… of the world economic downturn as it relates to the piano industry does not paint a pretty picture. The general view is that piano sales overall are down as might be expected, but this has resulted in more excess production capacity in companies that were already feeling the pinch due to competition from Japan, Korea and now China. It appears as though Steinway and Bosendorfer may be feeling much more than just the pinch here, although both companies are big enough with sufficient financial backing to survive longer term, although in what form remains to be seen. Yamaha are making the right noises about continuing the ‘Bosendorfer tradition’, whatever that may be and whatever significance it now has, but it does appear that Baldwin, an American manufacturer of high quality pianos with historically a very good reputation up to this point of time, is either on the verge of collapse or else has collapsed with the majority of its manufacturing going to China. What effect this will have on their overall quality and thus ‘reputation’ remains to be seen.
All of which suggests that price competition between manufacturers and their dealers is going to increase and this will inevitably lead to lesser profits overall and further shakeouts in the industry – this is not just a piano industry thing but will affect many other industries overall as well. So those manufacturers that are in the dealer model for piano sales are in for, and indeed are probably having, a very rough ride.
When you add in the pressures to manufacture more pianos at a cheaper cost (ie. more ‘efficiently’) it is no surprise that something has to give – and that quite often is the quality of the piano as evidenced by the following quote:
“I bought an Essex piano recently. It is the upright UP123E. It looks great. Big and shiny. It sounded good in the showroom. I liked it as it was bright and loud. Alas, showroom acoustics can be deceiving! It was delivered a week later into my music room. It sounds terrible! It is overloud and very harsh with some of the mid bass strings sounding dead! Especially at both ends of the treble and bass bridges. B below middle C sounds really sick. Also the main problem I have with this piano is the soundboard resonation buzzing AFTER the notes are played and after the dampers are against the strings. The dampers are firm against the strings but the soundboard continues to vibrate and sound sympathetic noise! It's so annoying - I can't stand it. I have decided this piano is going back to the showroom and to be swapped over for something else.”
Now Essex pianos are ‘designed’ by Steinway and manufactured in China, and this piano was purchased in Melbourne, Australia.
• Pianos always sound different in the home than they do in the showroom.
• Pianos need careful voicing and tuning all the time.
• When you are dealing with pianos that are built down to a price rather than up to a quality level then it really is buyer beware with a vengeance.
Which makes it all the more imperative that pianos such as the Stuart do not conform in any way to the norm when it comes to piano manufacture.
• Fully handcrafted
• Quality maximised, not price minimised
• Dealers are not part of the deal
There will always be a ‘niche’ market for top-end pianos like the Stuart which are sufficiently ‘different’ to the rest to be able to marketed independently of the normal retail channels, and all of this reinforces the need for Wayne to keep out of them.