CAUT

Interesting situation here..

Subject piano: High quality expensive European piano 

Findings:

As customer's technician I inspected the piano throroughly at first local service appointment (customer gets grumpy if tuning interval is longer than 6 weeks).  Piano doesn't sound bad and has an apparent high build quality although I didn't think it sounded all that great for the price. I checked bearing using a Lowell bearing gage and found negative bearing of 2-10 units in the top two sections and little  bearing in the tenor. To verify the situation I removed 2 bridge pins and confirmed that the string was flying visibly above the bridge with no contact and the ability to slide material under the string on the bridge with no friction or drag whatsoever. 

I then contacted the dealer who arranged for factory technician to visit. Said factory technician used factory setup jigs and referred to notes taken during manufacture and pronounced the piano to be "normal" with no deviation from factory setup. The dealer than contacted me saying that the matter was considered closed. 

Personally, as a rebuilder with soundboard replacement experience plus having visited several piano factories, I don't believe that a piano that is substantially higher priced than a S&S B should have negative bearing at any point regardless of design or assembly philosophy. (Maybe minimal or zero in the low tenor or bass--maybe. But certainly not in the top two treble sections.) The dealer is well meaning but has no direct understanding of the topic--having never repaired a piano, replaced a soundboard or carved a bridge, so he has to accept authority and the authority he accepts is the expensive factory technicians over someone who could be perceived as a backwoods tuner. He sent a technician to the factory but that technician while competent for general service has no background in major rebuilding or other factory visits so is pretty much in awe of this particular manufacturer and dubious that they could do anything wrong. 

So, I'd be glad for any feedback on this topic. 

I worked for a store for more than 20 years, and what you're experiencing is not new.  Whoever's hiring the tech pretty much calls the shots.  Of course the factory tech is going to say everything's all right.  If he says something different, his job is on the line.  You have done the right thing to refer this piano to the dealer, and also not mention the brand on this forum.  I made that mistake long ago. 

As far as your findings on this piano with a lack of downbearing, your king has no clothes and nobody wants to point it out.  Sometimes there is negative bearing in the front of the bridge but overall has bearing.  I have seen this also.  Not ideal, but it can still sound ok.  You basically don't have much pull in this situation, and anything you do to sound the alarm is going to end up with a lot of ruffled feathers and no solution.  If the customer is ok with it, let it be.  But if they are not happy, maybe they could return it or trade it for another one.  A very expensive piano should have downbearing everywhere, even if it's light.  Relying upon the angled bridge pins to transfer the energy to the sound board is not acceptable in my book.  I would expect cracking in the bridge top eventually.  

The other factor you didn't mention is the opinion of the owner, and what they are aware of.  I assume that you showed them your findings.  Was there something that alerted you to this situation for you to measure the downbearing?  Is there an obvious change in tone for those notes?  

I think you have done your duty, and though I don't think the piano is right, escalating the situation might jeopardize your relationship with the dealer.  

The above is my opinion.  Is it possible that a piano can sound good with no downbearing?  If that manufacturer insists that it is within spec for some reason I don't understand, maybe they have some secrets I don't know about.  I'll wait for others to jump in. 

Keith,
Assuming the customer is aware of the situation now, maybe you don't have to do anything else.

If the piano ever starts having issues that bother the client, they'll eventually have more reason to trust and respect you.

As far as holding the dealer or the manufacturer accountable, that can be pretty difficult as the third party not directly involved in the selling and purchasing of the piano.

What I can also share from 20+ years is that you are not alone in such experiences and the frustration that sometimes results. But if you are trying to think and act with integrity, perhaps you're also doing more than just operating with human thinking to make humans temporarily happy.

I have some locals that love to sell old used ******* uprights that look new and shiny on the outside, but are so old that they are often getting loose tuning pins. I have a customer who bought one of these, I warned him early on that I was feeling loose tuning pins (because he wanted my opinion) - and he blew it off, saying how wonderful the dealership owner was, etc, etc. Well, a couple years later and we are getting ever closer to the appointment I'll have to explain that his piano is no longer holding a tuning where tuning pins are slipping. I'll have to gently remind him once again that the piano is quite old, and this often happens. His opinion of the fabulous salesman who sold him this piano might not be quite as high at that point. I don't know. I've had other experiences like this before as well. When I was younger I pretty much spoke without caution and was punished for it. Today, I'm much more careful. Another issue I run into is elderly people who think there is a problem with their piano somewhere in the treble but who are hard of hearing and have hearing aids and things like that. That's a tricky one too.

Most of the time if you're a piano technician you care deeply both about your work - and people. Sometimes, the people that you are doing your best to help, punish you for trying to do the right thing. If you can process that and keep your kindness and your values, you'll be the better man for it.