Piano Manufacturers and Brands: A discussion!

Maria Hi Maria,  I believe it is two years. 

If you haven't been on a factory tour, I hope you can go.  I would have liked to try a few of the tasks, like sanding the case, key balancing, gluing the wooded layers, wrapping the wood around the steel form, yet I completely understand why they would not want to allow a person like me doing it.  I am lucky enough to get a tour!!

Roger Ward Steinway NY has announced an apprenticeship program some time in 2020 or so. Since then, one hasn't heard anything about that, so I guess they have returned to the typical "Put someone on a station with a mentor and get him to be productive as fast as possible" regimen.

Hamburg, on the other hand, has a truly outstanding apprenticeship program with 3.5 years and the option to add another two years to become a master piano builder.

Steinway NY has some kind of teaching collaboration with Oberlin college in Ohio, but details are nonexistent on the website of the college.

It's a sad state of affairs that North Bennett street school in Boston with two 9 month courses is the best option in the US to become a piano technician.

When you read "Grand Obsession" with this in mind then it becomes clear why all the mentioned technicians think of themself as masters of the universe and all of them use chemical voodoo to reach a hypothetic objective in terms of voicing a piano.

With the result, of course, that in the end the hammers are dead and needed full replacement.

Steinway, unfortunately, plays a major role in establishing the chemical voodoo thinking. Their preparation of a grand piano consists of fully lacquering a hammer "to give it foundation" and then start needling to, well, do something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LKw8tds7is is not for the weak. I watch this and start weeping about the full and systematic destruction of the interplay between Lanolin and Keratin. And every US technician thinks that this is the way to voice a piano.

It's not, at least not when you either have a European or Japanese background as technician.

Roger Ward I personally would like to go on tours of the Seiler and Bösendorfer factories. 

Maria Do it!!  

Roger Ward I plan to at some point.

Peter Lemken, clavierhaus You make several points that sparked my interest.  You sound like an entrepreneur.

If I were interested in the apprentice program, I would not rely on website information or announcements. 

The world works from a series of personal relationships, not from websites or YouTube/Tiktoc videos. 

Website announcements will attract likely hundreds/thousands of people and each applicant would need to be vetted, and that would take a company many hours.  It is a huge expense.  Since Steinway has probably a few such positions (they are not an amusement park)  enhancing personal and professional relationships to get in the door would be better.  From a business view, Steinway has several good filters, as all high achieving companies.

I am not a technician and I know next to nothing on the use of lanolin and karatin.  But you might have a great business idea.  Why don't you form partners, fully establish your method, and set up manufacturing?  "Lemken Pianos" has a nice, refined ring to it. 

The other idea is establishing a tuner school.  I assume most tuners learn by closely modeling what their teachers do.  Modeling is great, but does nothing for industry standardization.  "Lemken School of Piano Tuning" 🤓

Roger Ward I believe his brand is Clavierhaus, since I see a nice "clavierhaus.at" logo/sticker on the side of his piano in his recording. In any case he is extremely knowledgeable in that field indeed. I guess the american techs that he criticized may disagree with his views, but that doesn't matter. It's expert opinion vs expert opinion. It's up to the customer to inform themselves sufficiently to decide whom to trust.

Roger Ward He owns a piano shop, Clavierhaus. I don't think Peter was interested in the Steinway apprentice program, and neither am I. 

Lanolin and keratin are both found in wool felt. Keratin is the protein that forms the fibers, and lanolin is the oil found in wool. I believe that the hardener the tech in the video was applying to the hammer felt would damage the felt. 

Noel Nguyen He doesn't manufacture pianos, he sells them. 

Maria I know, I was simply saying he does have a brand. I just read Roger's post too fast.

Noel Nguyen I don't fully understand Roger's post. 

Maria well now that I read it more carefully I think he was indeed proposing that Peter start manufacturing pianos, and a tuning school business. I believe he does do tuning already.

In my opinion, Clavierhaus is a good brand name for a restoring shop and tuning school, but not for a piano.

Roger Ward What's the point of your posting other than sarcasm with the intention of hitting below the belt?

Peter Lemken, clavierhaus I don't understand his post either. 

Noel Nguyen Clavierhaus means "piano house" in German.

Maria I know that! And that's why I said in my opinion it's a good name for a shop and school but perhaps not for a piano brand 

Noel Nguyen I wasn't saying you didn't know what it meant. I agree that it would be an odd name for a brand.