Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum German this...German that, What's all the fuss????

I often hear/read that German scales, strings, hammers etc. are something special. In fact, one dealer told me that a particular non-German piano they sold was superior beacause it had a "German scale"- But, they couldn't explain exactly what was "German" about it and why it was better. What is it that makes various German piano parts so coveted?

fingers

"You know the Germans always make good stuff."...Vince from ShamWow...LOL!

For generations, many brands of pianos from Europe in general and Germany specifically have been coveted as top performance and quality, much like Mercedes Benz. As a result, many Asian manufacturers tout German strings, scale designs, actions, etc. to trade off the German reputation.

German pianos have the historical idea of quality like the Japanese have with cars like Toyota...

Crap, never mind...:)

What about Grotrian-Steinweg??

Their German and generally considered to be phenomenal. What was your question?

Everything made in Germany is amazing and perfect.

BMW cars
Mercedes (with the exception of the chrysler ownership years)
Miele vacuums
Grotrian Steinweg
Bach

From speaking with German piano makers & part makers (on occasion), it starts with their cultural identity. People associated with piano manufacture, repair, even sales are expected to have a...culturally mandated high level of training and expertise.

Here, we can't even get people to agree that you shouldn't try to voice your own piano. I've seen a few people sell pianos one week and cars or refrigerators the next. Most countries have a wider level of acceptance, but I believe that the cultural standard drives German excellence in manufacturing. I think it is hard for most people to understand this unless you are in a culture with similar values. I compare it to the way most people respect their physician. Any Germans or Ex-Pats wish to comment?

Most pianos made in Germany come with a simple statement: "Made in Germany." That's all!

Most pianos that boast this and that German part a million times in their advertisements usually come from Asia.

Having just bought an 80 year old Lipp upright I can say it is because of the heritage and history. If you've been making pianos for 150 years like alot of german makes then things have been perfected over time. Also alot of those makes are hand made so their is a level of workmanship and individuality to those pianos.

Having lived in Germany for 18 years, I can tell you it is all about the culture. Germans that decide to embark on a career in manufacturing instruments (or any other trade)generally make that decision for life. They train and study for years, just to earn the basic qualifications, sometimes decades to earn the status of "Master". Their heritage and pride dictates that they produce exceptional quality products. Their political system of mild socialism allows them to focus solely on quality, not merely on profits. Workers of any guild are well taken care of and need not focus on finishing their work first; it being flawless suffices.

I totally forgot about other german greats

There are the pipe organs of course!

Some of the worlds best and oldest organs are in germany.

Arp Schntiger
F.C. Schnitger
Gottfried Silbermann
Hinz

Oh and it goes on and on and on!

http://www.glogerfestspillene.no/images/stories/faste/orgelfasade1_3Dframe.jpg
http://www.die-orgelseite.de/pict/A_StFlorian_Stiftskirche1.jpg
http://www.die-orgelseite.de/pict/D_Berlin_Dom1.jpg


*****And perhaps the most incredible, absolute most ornate musical instrument ever built****
http://www.die-orgelseite.de/pict/D_Weingarten_Basilika.jpg

Beat that america. That organ was built in 1750- and is one of the largest organs in the world

Did I tell you I am moving to germany as soon as I hit college!?!?!

I picked out my place too. In the hills of Heidelberg! I went there and fell in love with it.

Not everything German is great. This German Behringer digital piano is inferior to Yamaha and Roland. It has the reputation of being not reliable and the keyboard action is definitely far behind Yamaha and Roland.

Smart boy! You could do a lot worse!

These days, after owning three Mercedes (non-Chrysler years), I drive Fords.

German made, although good, isn't what it used to be. At least, with regards to Mercedes.

Everything by Behringer is inferior to almost any American-made counterparts

And ahh, the hills of Heidelberg, my hometown, I definitely miss them. You could do a lot worse!

Anyway, I am not really sure what it is about German pianos.
My theory would be that it's not really any magical reason.

German pianos have a stellar reputation, which makes people pay premium for them, which allows a lot of diverse German manufacturer to survive and spend money on building quality pianos.

Any one German manufacturer would never stand heads and shoulders above Shigeru Kawai pianos, especially if you do the comparison on a price parity level - there just isn't more than 3-4 other premium manufacturers in the world altogether.

As far as I can see, Behringer Germany is only the distributor for products from Behringer Intl. Singapore. Possibly, there is still some R&D left there, but with less than 60 people in Germany, there isn't much scope for that.
Manufacturing appears to be entirely in China (including Hongkong and Macau). So hardly anything to compare with the German premium piano manufacturers.

Haha, I'm from Germany and I like this statement! It helps our economy!

BTW I have a KAWAI DP (made in Indonesia) and am very happy with it! A completely German made DP would have cost at least 5 times as much as the KAWAI, maybe better build quality, but who cares given the price tag!? Nevertheless, I own a lot of other stuff that was made in Germany, and compared to US products (I can tell since two of my brothers live there) many (not all) of them are superior build quality but of course with a superior price tag! It's (like almost always): You get what you pay for!

Back to the opening poster:

The more times "German" is mentioned, the lower the quality of the piano.

Germans do make quality products, but are not the innovators.

There really is no such thing as a 'Renner' action for instance. There are Renner made copies of Steinway actions and Schwander actions, for instance. The modern piano is an American invention. The Germans execute it well. As mentioned, it is cultural too, whereas a piano builder or technician take the career seriously and study for years. There are no correspondance technicians there. On the other hand, this leads to a rigid orthodoxy and less questioning. There are no Del Fandrich's or Ari Isaac's either, to name a couple. The questioning of what we do, how we do it and the materials we use is more American (and Canadian, of course!)

Hope this helps

Steve