Thank you for your patience. Please read my special introductory letter to Piano World members.

A first class act - congratulations Larry!!

Norbert

Oh? You wrote a new book?

Congratulations and sincere thanks also to Steve Cohen!

He made it happen to have it free for all online users!!

Norbert

Thanks Larry and Steve.

Congratulations Larry, Alden, and Steve, great job!

Congratulations.

Now I'm never going to get any sleep.

Larry F.'s letter reinforces my expectation that he'll be able to retain his objectivity.

We often post re the increasing quality of Asian-made pianos, but I was struck by his mentioning that computerization has so broadly increased quality that he now sees his role as having changed from critic to guide.

And he's absolutely right about the consequence of the current expectation of money for nuthin' and chicks for free.

This is similiar to what I heared some say during my recent trip to Germany.

They said "we can't build for the price of Estonias and we'll most definitely never get anywhere near the cost of the Chinese".

"So, let's invent the next generation CNC machinery and sell that to them"

"If the Chinese are start building better and better pianos, go ahead, blame us - at least we'll make money with something".....

Norbert

Very nice. Easy navigation. Recommendations will start today for clients who have been asking about the online version! Thanks, guys!

No. The core ideas for the new business model, including creating the ability to provide the content free online were Larry's.

I just spent the last 20-30 minutes wandering through the site. It's excellent! Lots of information, easy to navigate, looks good. Thank you.

Charles

"Piano Buyer" is quite impressive, Larry. Congratulations! In particular, I was pleased to see your new format for grouping and ranking pianos. Having a smaller number of categories, and not ranking them within category, reflects more accurately the state of parity in piano manufacturing today, and it will undoubtedly save you a WHOLE lot of grief from fans and manufacturers who want to quibble with differences in rankings that really didn't mean that much.

I wish you the best of luck in this new venture.

Larry et al - Thank you for providing the book on line for free!

Just a thought - I actually prefer the old rating system for pianos. There are definitely unmistakable variations in terms of performance and musicality among the pianos listed under Category 2 but they are all lumped together.... I guess this is meant as a very generic guide and the pianist must then discern for him/herself.

As I count it there are 6 categories in the latest edition compared to about 13 in the previous one. But in neither one were the pianos in each group ranked. The pianos in each group in the last edition were listed alphabetically.

Damned if you do...and damned if you don't!

LOL

Fine said there was no unaninimity of opinion among the techs who offered opinions about these pianos.

I know, LOL! That's whay I sais "just a thought." Also people (at least me) don't like changes unless they are really necessary...

Congratulations again on a worthy undertaking!

Very true. But I was just looking at it from a pianist point of view. That's why the standard forum adivce is to try as many pianos as you can and buy the one you like!

Wow!! Who said good things are not "FREE" anymore. Thanks to all who had their hands in this project. My only problem is between Pre-Season Football & The Buyer's Guide I will not get any rest this weekend.

Peace,
Aliwally

Which, as we all know, is the essence of things...

Norbert

Just spent a few minutes skimming through and the online book looks great. I'm looking forward to reading more. I liked the piano ratings in the old supplements, but I think this works just fine too. Great job Larry, Steve, and everyone else who contributed.

Dan

I too like the old rating system, a bit more separation is easier to decipher.

To me it seems to be ranked more by price.

Some manufactures sell direct to dealers an there is no middle man getting a cut but the quality of said piano may be just as high or higher than a more expensive piano.

Also foreign currency, shipping costs & the middle man may put some pianos in a higher price range but it may not transfer to better quality.

gosh.. i was going to mow.

the format is excellent.. how the pages zoom and turn.

As to the suggestion that pianos were ranked somewhat by price, I can tell you they were not. After the rankings had been determined we looked for the price ranges of those in each group.

Nobody is going to mention the elephant in the room? NY Steinways right there among 11 other brands (ranging in the old version between group 1B to 2B). Sorry, not meaning to start a war -- I for one love Steinways and do not believe them to be overpriced.

Canceled my webstore online order and ordered direct for a $aving. Browsed the online version and it looks great, but I prefer one on the shelf that I can grab whenever.
Hopefully, in the spring we will get a discounted pre-print notification/offer?

BTW... loved the website. Very easy to navigate!

Beautiful!

I will certainly order it once I am in the market for a grand. We should support
all the work that went into this!

Funny, I feel exactly same about Estonia.....

Norbert

Now THAT was funny!