| "I heard that older pianos are better than the new ones."
We've heard this, too, but rarely from an actual pianist or music professional! Here are a few interesting facts to consider:
1. Mass-production of low-grade pianos goes back to the 1800's. Ask any piano tuner about the hundreds or thousands of "antique" pianos they've seen that sound terrible and are completely beyond repair.
2. Unlike a violin, a piano is a machine with 5,000 moving parts, which wear out from use, and can degrade over time because of heat, humidity, neglect, and even just gravity. A 50 year-old washing machine doesn't work better than a brand-new one!
3. Two of the most important parts of the piano are the soundboard and the pinblock. If these components crack open, or otherwise structurally fail, the piano is absolutely useless. The cost of replacing them is so high that it would make more sense to buy a new piano.
4. Glue. (Compare glue in 1930 made from ingredients like remnants of expired horses, and modern glues that keep tiles on the space shuttle attached in re-entry)
5. Design. Pianos haven't stopped evolving over time; engineers and designers continue to improve on acoustics, manufacturing quality and consistency, and use of materials (like glue). We hear people saying that Steinway pianos from a mythical "golden age" in the 20's and 30's are the best, however, it should be noted that 22 very critical patents from Steinway date since 1950, and 17 of them are after 1975.
6. What are the pros playing? If the older pianos sounded or played better than new ones, colleges of music, concert halls, piano teachers, churches, musicians, and professors wouldn't buy new pianos, and there would be twenty times as many piano technicians working around the clock keeping the old ones in tune. Actually, the working musicians, performers, and educators all prefer brand-new pianos to old ones; The Conservatory-College of Music to the University in Cincinnati has purchased 164 new pianos from Steinway, the largest single order from any institution. They would have saved millions buying older pianos. Here in San Diego, we recently delivered new grand pianos to USD, SDSU, UCSD, La Jolla Country Day School, the Balboa Theater, and countless serious pianists who demand high performance and are smart with their dollars.
7. Where did this misconception come from? Since some other categories of musical instruments like violins can perform beautifully after one or two centuries, people wrongly assume that pianos will as well. Also, since it can be a very profitable business to buy old pianos, fix them up, and refinish them, it is in a rebuilder's interest to downplay the quality of a new piano. Finally, it is not unusual for an owner who dearly loves their piano to proudly (and incorrectly) claim that nothing like it could be purchased today. Unfortunately, when a trusted friend or neighbor fall into this category, quite a few parents are poorly advised to find an old piano for their child to practice on!
If you haven't played a recently built, modern piano, come by our store sometime, try one out, and tell us what you think!
This picture illustrates the moving parts, or action, of one key on a grand piano.
This picture illustrates the action of an upright piano.
This picture illustrates the design of the baby grand piano
This picture illustrates the design of the upright piano
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