Cool shirt, Sam. Scary--- it's me, all right. I'd recognize him anywhere.:)

I'm going to attempt to get this thread back on track which may prove to be as difficult as steering the Titanic around an iceberg, but her it goes....

In my town the Steinways at the local dearler are not well prepped. I believe it greatly reduces their sales. I used to live in a town where the Steinway dealer did a great job of prepping the instruments. The difference between what the two dealers have on their floor is stunning. That tells me that dealer prep is very important. Now if Feurich (and you should hear how I pronounced that in my head as I typed it) has a special specification for dealer prep that Hailun (another pronounciation in my head that would make Rich roll his eyes) doesn't have I could very well see that there would be a real difference between the two. Maybe I should just consider a Cunningham as it is much easier to pronounce and I know Rich does a great job of prepping his pianos.

Koo-ning-haahm?

Thanks for trying Pianolance.

I really understand the average piano buyers confusion about "prep". Here is one way to think about it:

1 All pianos would benefit from some degree of prep. Sometimes that prep is needed to make the keys work, sometimes it is needed to allow a piano to produce ear-melting levels of pianissimo. However every new piano benefits from some degree of prep, just like every home piano would benefit from work beyond a simple tuning. Where the point of diminishing returns is is a judgement call.

2. Prep costs somebody money, and nobody wants that money to come out of their pocket. It takes time by a trained professional - there is no way around it. The manufacturer, frankly, does as little as they can get away with and wants to pass the rest on to the dealer. The dealer would prefer to do as little as possible to get the piano sold, which, frankly, the dealer cannot be blamed for. To some dealers that idea of "as little as possible" means nothing, to some it means 10 hours.

3. If you can't hear or don't care about the difference, then prep has little value to you and you should seek out the lowest price. You will have lots of choices, so one shouldn't go on a forum and suggest that people who do value it are getting "ripped off".

If you can hear the difference and care about it, then you should seek out a brand and dealer that supports those values.

The problem is that unless you know what a piano should sound like (and few people really do) it is very hard to evaluate the condition of a piano and whether or not it needs prep or if it has had some. Therefore, trust in your manufacturer, dealer and technician is the substitute.

I don't know what Hailun does and don't really care. At Feurich our strategy is to prep each piano to ensure a particular sound and quality standard. Right now it's easy. If sales take off it will be more of a challenge, but we have a plan for that!

(My bold)Exactly.

IMO unless one has played many different examples of the same make/model at many different dealers and is also a high level pianist or tech, it is extremely difficult to know about the quality of the prep. One might recognize fairly obvious problems but I think most buyers can only get a very general idea of the prep quality at best.

I think many pianists can judge that they "liked" a particular piano's touch or tone, but that might not even be related to how much prep work was done on. Very few would know if an action they like the feel of could be made even better.

This reminds me of a story I think I read in Franz Mohr's book. Some very famous pianist left a few paper notes on the piano in Steinway's basement about which notes he thought needed to be voiced so they did not stand out from the others. Mohr said the pianist missed many notes that needed this adjustment.

When posters write things like "They prepped my piano to the fullest" or "Every piano in the store was prepped to the nines", I think in most cases(including my own)a relevant question would be "How do you know?"

"... in most cases(including my own)a relevant question would be "How do you know?""

I read it on the internet. Duh!

To give an example for perspective, Bosendorfer is known for their out-of-the-box quality. Ask any dealer, they will all have examples of when they unboxed a Bosendorfer and could put it on the floor without having to even tune it! Bosendorfer spends a great deal of time and, therefore, money ensuring this experience.

However, if a Bosendorfer staff technician was tasked with unboxing and preparing this same piano, he (or she, but unlikely in Austria) would spend a MINIMUM of 4 to 6 hours working on the piano. I know this because I not only saw it done many many times, it was my job for 5 years.

While at Yamaha I witnessed the delivery of CFIII's and S4's and S6's at Yamaha Artist Services in NYC, all arrived sounding TERRIFIC. Still the staff concert tech would spend a MINIMUM of 4 to 6 hours making it even better.

Now these pianos all were of high enough quality that this effort paid off in a result. The real challenge is finding the point of diminishing returns for both the piano and the customers budget. Easy to talk about, not so easy to do, especially in the current economic climate.

My own experience confirms that of Franz Mohr. Frequently the specific adjustments requested are the least of the problems a piano might have. That's not to say they weren't noticeable or important..they clearly were. But other needed adjustments weren't specified because the pianist didn't know how to describe it, or simply accepted that the problem with repeating, or the clunky feeling in the key was just a characteristic of that particular piano, rather than jack position or a damper upstop rail that needed attention.

Can you elaborate on this further? Are you saying there is an objective standard? If I say that, in general, I prefer the tone of Kawai over Yamaha, does that mean I'm a cloth-eared dolt for not preferring the tone of __________? (fill in your favorite piano make here)



This appears to contradict the previous statement. So I'm confused. (Unless you actually mean all other pianos should sound like Feurich!)

dB

Hi db

Really great point.

I'm talking about piano technology, not piano design. A pianos components need to be constructed and assembled in a particular way to get the best sound out of the design. This means, for example, the keys must be level and travel down a particular and consistent amount. The hammers must be shaped and mated to the strings. The strings must be level, the repetition springs must be adjusted correctly and on and on. These steps, collectively called regulation + voicing, but also called prep when done to a new piano, must be completed, theoretically, to bring out the tone and touch that the designers intended.

These steps are universal to all modern actions and understood to be common practice. It is the degree of finesse employed that can vary.

Before you decide you like Kawai over Yamaha, for example, make sure you are evaluating well prepared examples of each, so the Kawai is as Kawai as it can be, and the same for Yamaha.

BoseEric,

Thanks for the explanation.



This makes sense and i see what your meaning was.

BTW, my preference for Kawai over Yamaha is real and based on years of hearing and playing many instruments of both makes. Of course, you'll notice that I own neither.

dB

We were recently alerted to this thread and welcome the passionate discussion- including Mr. Carr’s friendship of our brand.

We would like to contribute some nicely recorded music to this conversation. Here are two pieces that hail from Austria. Eric Himy is performing The Forgotten Walse (Valse Oubliee No. 1) and then the Sonetto del Petrarca 123 by Franz Liszt. The piano: a Hailun Grand 218 - and a good example of a well-“prepped” Hailun. The occasion: 200th Liszt Anniversary Concert @ the Landmark Center, St. Paul, MN.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ohrSICZd7E&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lBrpsIck84&feature=plcp


Disclaimer: This video was made in collaboration with the Authorized Hailun Merchant in the Twin Cities, Wells Music. Their name appears in the video – hope that won’t bother anyone.


Hailun USA - www.hailun-pianos.com