Music Trade Review
Issue: 1894 Vol. 19 N. 4 - Page 9
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
Buying a Piano.
jiWT Is quite astonishing the amount of knowl-
^
edge imparted to a customer by a retail
dealer, and retained by that customer, regarding
the construction of a piano and its component
parts, and it is a question whether such infor-
mation is of any material benefit to the customer
in selecting an instrument. The information is
purely superficial and causes confusion oftener
than it assists in effecting a sale.
An instance is in mind where a country mer-
chant desired to purchase a piano, and at the
time the writer had the pleasure of interviewing
him had been for three months determining
which make he should invest in.
His confusion was largely brought about from
the piecemeal information which each dealer had
given regarding the instrument he was attempt-
ing to sell, and with this superficial information
the customer was seeking an instrument which
would contain the most desirable of each of the
component parts.
He had been informed by one dealer that a
certain make of action was the best, and this
was confirmed by enough other dealers to war-
rant the prospective purchaser in making a
Stand on that particular make of action to the
exclusion of all others. Again, he was informed
by someone that only a certain make of wire
could be relied upon ; therefore, the piano he
purchased must contain that wire and no other.
And so it went on to the number of thicknesses
of veneer composing the pin-block, the con-
struction of the sounding-board, the manner in
which the sounding-board was ribbed and
bridged, and, in fact, this customer had about
as good a knowledge of the piano and its con-
struction as the average salesman.
So much technical information naturally con-
fused this customer, and he has been trying ever
since to buy what in his estimation would be a
perfect instrument, based upon the information
imparted to him by dealers, and as he will not
pay but the price of an ordinary piano, he is
liable to keep on looking for three months
longer, or three years ; and what an annoyance
he and his family are to every dealer within a
radius of 100 miles !
The extent to which this customer has gone
in his search for a piano can be estimated when
it is known that he has with his family—five of
them—visited eight different piano factories,
and has a list with prices and the makers of
different parts of over 50 different makes of in-
struments.
He was asked if he had no confidence in his
local dealer, who, by the way, is one of the most
straightforward, reliable men in the trade and
doing a splendid business. He said he had ;
thought he was perfectly honest in all he had
told him regarding pianos. " Then why not
purchase of that man a make of instrument
which he has been selling for years and is wil-
ling to guarantee, and not look all over the
country and finally purchase of someone who
has no interest in you other than to sell you a
piano? " he was asked. "By pursuing your
present policy you stand a chance of getting
stuck in the end, and it will serve you right."
It started him thinking, and it may be that the
little wholesome advice given him will expedite
the purchase of a piano to his advantage.—P.,
O. and M. T. Journal, London.
MR. E. S. CONWAY, of the W. W. Kimball
Company, is summering at Delavan Lake, Wis.
F. E. KISSIG, music dealer, Cleveland, Ohio,
has made an assignment. The judgment against
him was for $1,450.
of reinforcing the sound given out by the
strings, such an essential item as placing an ad-
ditional soundboard and resonance body under-
Only a Violinist.
neath the piano having been entirely overlooked.
This obvious deficiency in our ideal musical in-
"HAT'S the charge? " said the mild- strument for the home is now completely dis-
eyed Justice Taintor, not long since posed of by the introduction of the patent du-
to " one of the finest," as he bared his poll be- plex resonator. This invention may be de-
fore the Court and lined up alongside the greasy scribed as a scientifically constructed sound-
rail in the Harlem court-room with his prisoner. chamber (having affinity with the resonance
'' The usual charge, sir; drunk and dis- body of stringed instruments) and adopting the
principle governing their tone production,
orderly. ''
placed
underneath the piano, the back of which
As the gaze of the Judge rested on the feeble
old specimen of humanity before him, bearing a it supports and carries, forming its fundamental
green flannel bag under his arm, there was a base.
The external appearance of the instrument is
momentery relaxation of that vigor so charac-
teristic of this judge in ordinary charges of this in no way affected by the invention.
kind.
After a momentary pause the Judge said to
the prisoner: "Well, what answer do you Some Pertinent Remarks on
make ? ''
Tuning.
"Judge, I am innocent. I never drank a
drop of liquor in my life. May I tell my fflOW much of an item Is the tuning business
story ? ''
^*^ in your case ?
"Proceed," said the Judge, " but be brief."
How does it stand related to the rest of your
Here is what the old man said :
business ?
"My father sleeps in a drunkard's grave.
Do you employ tuners or do you attend to this
Two years after my mother was laid by his side, yourself?
and may God forgive her for giving away to the
How much does it contribute to your sales ?
same influence. I was then a young man of
Are you using the advantages which are pre-
twenty. I was studying music. I had, my sented by this opportunity of tuning instruments
teachers said, great promise, and I loved my of your patrons in discovering their defects, and
violin almost as much as I loved the young endeavoring to persuade them to exchange their
woman who had promised to be my wife. Fifty pianos for better ones, and on favorable terms ?
years ago the woman who promised to love me
Are your tuners sufficiently alive as salesmen ?
always parted, from me, fearing that the love of Do they report to you from time to time the
drink was a birthright. She parted from me at state of affairs in So-and So's piano or organ ?
the place where the officer arrested me, and at
If they do not attempt to replace an old in-
that time there was a turnstile standing there, strument with a new one are they keeping you
and a noble house beyond. I never saw her posted so that you may make an attempt in a
afterwards. Each year since that time I have salesman-like fashion ?
stood where the stile stood and played a few
There ought to be a complete system in thi*
bars that used to make two hearts glad. This tuning business. You should have daily reports
old violin under my arm has been my only com- from your tuners, not only of cash transactions,
panion during the long years since. I hope to but such reports of conversation held in houses
meet her somewhere, but, Judge, I never have and defects discovered in instruments as will
tasted a drop of liquor.''
give you data for working up sales.—Strings.
"The prisoner Is discharged," said Ju^ge
Taintor ; " call the next case," and as the feeble
COLONEL MOORE, of the Everett Piano Co.,
old man tottered down the aisle of the gloomy Boston, reports' that trade this summer has been
old court-room, more than one eye was dimmed up to the standard. The number of pianos sold
with a tear.
make a handsome showing.
Flotsam and Jetsam.
The " Duplex Resonator" An Aid
To Tone Production.
i f f i R - RICHARD SCHREIBER, a London,
-^~ (Eng.), piano manufacturer, has been
giving his attention to the augmentation of tone
production in pianos for some time. He re-
cently patented a '' duplex resonator,'' which
he is applying to all his instruments. Concern
ing this patent the inventor says : " Improve-
ments to develop and perfect the tone of piano-
fortes have been numerous and manifold, but
none have secured the desired effect. It may
be fairly claimed though, for the present inven-
tion, that it satisfactorily achieves the result so
long sought after.
In directing the attention to the construction
of stringed instruments, it is found that they
possess a resonance body by means of which the
tone-production is greatly aided. The violin,
'cello, harp, etc., have a resonance body so con-
structed as to receive and emit sound at their
bases, tops and sides, and without this reson-
ance body no satisfactory sound could be pro-
duced. It is an astonishing fact that up to the
present time a single soundboard (placed at the
back of the piano) has supplied the only means
The...
KRELL
PIANO.
GEORGE C. CRANE,
97 Fifth Ave., cor. 17th St., New York.
EASTERN REPRESENTATIVE OF
T H E KRELL PIANO CO.,
Manufacturers of Strictly First-Class Grind & Upright Pianos,
CINCINNATI, O.
Reliable Agents Wanted in all Eastern Cities.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
Buying a Piano.
jiWT Is quite astonishing the amount of knowl-
^
edge imparted to a customer by a retail
dealer, and retained by that customer, regarding
the construction of a piano and its component
parts, and it is a question whether such infor-
mation is of any material benefit to the customer
in selecting an instrument. The information is
purely superficial and causes confusion oftener
than it assists in effecting a sale.
An instance is in mind where a country mer-
chant desired to purchase a piano, and at the
time the writer had the pleasure of interviewing
him had been for three months determining
which make he should invest in.
His confusion was largely brought about from
the piecemeal information which each dealer had
given regarding the instrument he was attempt-
ing to sell, and with this superficial information
the customer was seeking an instrument which
would contain the most desirable of each of the
component parts.
He had been informed by one dealer that a
certain make of action was the best, and this
was confirmed by enough other dealers to war-
rant the prospective purchaser in making a
Stand on that particular make of action to the
exclusion of all others. Again, he was informed
by someone that only a certain make of wire
could be relied upon ; therefore, the piano he
purchased must contain that wire and no other.
And so it went on to the number of thicknesses
of veneer composing the pin-block, the con-
struction of the sounding-board, the manner in
which the sounding-board was ribbed and
bridged, and, in fact, this customer had about
as good a knowledge of the piano and its con-
struction as the average salesman.
So much technical information naturally con-
fused this customer, and he has been trying ever
since to buy what in his estimation would be a
perfect instrument, based upon the information
imparted to him by dealers, and as he will not
pay but the price of an ordinary piano, he is
liable to keep on looking for three months
longer, or three years ; and what an annoyance
he and his family are to every dealer within a
radius of 100 miles !
The extent to which this customer has gone
in his search for a piano can be estimated when
it is known that he has with his family—five of
them—visited eight different piano factories,
and has a list with prices and the makers of
different parts of over 50 different makes of in-
struments.
He was asked if he had no confidence in his
local dealer, who, by the way, is one of the most
straightforward, reliable men in the trade and
doing a splendid business. He said he had ;
thought he was perfectly honest in all he had
told him regarding pianos. " Then why not
purchase of that man a make of instrument
which he has been selling for years and is wil-
ling to guarantee, and not look all over the
country and finally purchase of someone who
has no interest in you other than to sell you a
piano? " he was asked. "By pursuing your
present policy you stand a chance of getting
stuck in the end, and it will serve you right."
It started him thinking, and it may be that the
little wholesome advice given him will expedite
the purchase of a piano to his advantage.—P.,
O. and M. T. Journal, London.
MR. E. S. CONWAY, of the W. W. Kimball
Company, is summering at Delavan Lake, Wis.
F. E. KISSIG, music dealer, Cleveland, Ohio,
has made an assignment. The judgment against
him was for $1,450.
of reinforcing the sound given out by the
strings, such an essential item as placing an ad-
ditional soundboard and resonance body under-
Only a Violinist.
neath the piano having been entirely overlooked.
This obvious deficiency in our ideal musical in-
"HAT'S the charge? " said the mild- strument for the home is now completely dis-
eyed Justice Taintor, not long since posed of by the introduction of the patent du-
to " one of the finest," as he bared his poll be- plex resonator. This invention may be de-
fore the Court and lined up alongside the greasy scribed as a scientifically constructed sound-
rail in the Harlem court-room with his prisoner. chamber (having affinity with the resonance
'' The usual charge, sir; drunk and dis- body of stringed instruments) and adopting the
principle governing their tone production,
orderly. ''
placed
underneath the piano, the back of which
As the gaze of the Judge rested on the feeble
old specimen of humanity before him, bearing a it supports and carries, forming its fundamental
green flannel bag under his arm, there was a base.
The external appearance of the instrument is
momentery relaxation of that vigor so charac-
teristic of this judge in ordinary charges of this in no way affected by the invention.
kind.
After a momentary pause the Judge said to
the prisoner: "Well, what answer do you Some Pertinent Remarks on
make ? ''
Tuning.
"Judge, I am innocent. I never drank a
drop of liquor in my life. May I tell my fflOW much of an item Is the tuning business
story ? ''
^*^ in your case ?
"Proceed," said the Judge, " but be brief."
How does it stand related to the rest of your
Here is what the old man said :
business ?
"My father sleeps in a drunkard's grave.
Do you employ tuners or do you attend to this
Two years after my mother was laid by his side, yourself?
and may God forgive her for giving away to the
How much does it contribute to your sales ?
same influence. I was then a young man of
Are you using the advantages which are pre-
twenty. I was studying music. I had, my sented by this opportunity of tuning instruments
teachers said, great promise, and I loved my of your patrons in discovering their defects, and
violin almost as much as I loved the young endeavoring to persuade them to exchange their
woman who had promised to be my wife. Fifty pianos for better ones, and on favorable terms ?
years ago the woman who promised to love me
Are your tuners sufficiently alive as salesmen ?
always parted, from me, fearing that the love of Do they report to you from time to time the
drink was a birthright. She parted from me at state of affairs in So-and So's piano or organ ?
the place where the officer arrested me, and at
If they do not attempt to replace an old in-
that time there was a turnstile standing there, strument with a new one are they keeping you
and a noble house beyond. I never saw her posted so that you may make an attempt in a
afterwards. Each year since that time I have salesman-like fashion ?
stood where the stile stood and played a few
There ought to be a complete system in thi*
bars that used to make two hearts glad. This tuning business. You should have daily reports
old violin under my arm has been my only com- from your tuners, not only of cash transactions,
panion during the long years since. I hope to but such reports of conversation held in houses
meet her somewhere, but, Judge, I never have and defects discovered in instruments as will
tasted a drop of liquor.''
give you data for working up sales.—Strings.
"The prisoner Is discharged," said Ju^ge
Taintor ; " call the next case," and as the feeble
COLONEL MOORE, of the Everett Piano Co.,
old man tottered down the aisle of the gloomy Boston, reports' that trade this summer has been
old court-room, more than one eye was dimmed up to the standard. The number of pianos sold
with a tear.
make a handsome showing.
Flotsam and Jetsam.
The " Duplex Resonator" An Aid
To Tone Production.
i f f i R - RICHARD SCHREIBER, a London,
-^~ (Eng.), piano manufacturer, has been
giving his attention to the augmentation of tone
production in pianos for some time. He re-
cently patented a '' duplex resonator,'' which
he is applying to all his instruments. Concern
ing this patent the inventor says : " Improve-
ments to develop and perfect the tone of piano-
fortes have been numerous and manifold, but
none have secured the desired effect. It may
be fairly claimed though, for the present inven-
tion, that it satisfactorily achieves the result so
long sought after.
In directing the attention to the construction
of stringed instruments, it is found that they
possess a resonance body by means of which the
tone-production is greatly aided. The violin,
'cello, harp, etc., have a resonance body so con-
structed as to receive and emit sound at their
bases, tops and sides, and without this reson-
ance body no satisfactory sound could be pro-
duced. It is an astonishing fact that up to the
present time a single soundboard (placed at the
back of the piano) has supplied the only means
The...
KRELL
PIANO.
GEORGE C. CRANE,
97 Fifth Ave., cor. 17th St., New York.
EASTERN REPRESENTATIVE OF
T H E KRELL PIANO CO.,
Manufacturers of Strictly First-Class Grind & Upright Pianos,
CINCINNATI, O.
Reliable Agents Wanted in all Eastern Cities.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).