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The very suggestion that S&S would consider the production of the German house as superior in ANY way to its Astoria pianos would be company heresy. Their brains would explode.
Then perhaps "they" shouldn't charge so much for the German built instruments !!
Maybe you should compare the price to the "other" German S&S.
Marty. I find it a bit difficult to find a proper quote for a hamburg D. I found on the website that has book values for Steinway that they are around 160k including taxes etc. A Steinway dealer said 190k not including a piano bench or taxes.
I think I will call the uk and find out for myself instead of relying on these "sources".
I was responding to Carey about the cost of the "other German S&S." There is more than one, you know? They are considerably more expensive than the brand you are considering.
Marty in Minnesota
It's much easier to bash a Steinway than it is to play one.
Fantasia or not, the tone of these contributions is streets ahead of the last go round. Hats off, ladies and gentlemen.
Although it's rather far off topic, the question about reactions of the Hamburg outfit to one's possible preference for an Astoria piano. Given my impression of German excellence and the attitude of those that create and sustain it, the phrase about water off a duck's back comes to mind.
Look, Naom, if you're absolutely DETERMINED to have a Hamburg Steinway D, you've already sorted out the ways to find one stateside. I think that I mentioned before that the London dealer has a nice atmosphere and could make the arrangements. BUT, if I were in the market for a new HAMBURG D, I'd visit the Fabbrini atelier in Pescara, Abruzzo. Mr. Fabbrini's Hamburg Ds represent, at least to these old, jaded ears, a kind-of Platonic ideal REALISED here on earth.
If dynamic range is essential, you'll be devastated by what Fr. Fabbrini achieves. Please trust me about this.
BUT, if I were in the market for a new HAMBURG D, I'd visit the Fabbrini atelier in Pescara, Abruzzo. Mr. Fabbrini's Hamburg Ds represent, at least to these old, jaded ears, a kind-of Platonic ideal REALISED here on earth.
If dynamic range is essential, you'll be devastated by what Fr. Fabbrini achieves. Please trust me about this.
Indeed, they do sound amazing, even on YouTube:
"Playing the piano is my greatest joy...period."......JP
........Marty. I find it a bit difficult to find a proper quote for a hamburg D. I found on the website that has book values for Steinway that they are around 160k including taxes etc. A Steinway dealer said 190k not including a piano bench or taxes...
Dang....are you telling me I could have bought an S&S D for what I paid for my Kawai last month? I never should have believed the dealer when he told me those agraffes and wheels were solid gold and not brass. I feel so used and stupid now. I hate it when that happens.....blob
I can in all honesty say that a top 9' Hamburg is a tough piano to beat.
I've seen some that come close but not many.
Some that did or even exceeded were C.Bechstein [few] Fazioli [several] Estonia [some] Sauter [several] Bosis [some] Grotrian [several] Bluethner [some] Schimmel [few] and Steingraeber [all]
Irony is that by paying more, personal preferance or "ranking" doesn't seem to go up.
Worst scenario: paying LOTS - and still not satisfied...
I remember that, in the 1980s, my old music department in college bought one new directly from the London showroom and had it shipped directly to the campus loading dock. Could it be different for educational institutions?
And I know two other people, private parties who bought from dealers in the 1960s, one in London, and one on the continent, and had them shipped home to the states.
With the two pianos from the 1960's, were they used in the home for some time before being shipped to the US?
With the College, did they purchase through the A.S.S. program? For private sales in the US, the purchase of the Hamburgs is always through an S&S dealer, even if selected at a showroom, or the factory, in Europe. To do otherwise doesn't make business sense.
Marty in Minnesota
It's much easier to bash a Steinway than it is to play one.
I don't know how my old department arranged the terms of sale. I do know that the showroom shipped directly to them from London, and our department tech's put it together and did all the prep work. Four of our faculty went for a week to pick it out (what a punishment). I believe that the university purchasing agent negotiated all the terms before the faculty went to London.
As to the others, the one guy bought it new in London off the showroom floor. But I think he might have arranged the shipping himself. The other I don't know anything about the shipping but the buyer, an American and a non-resident of France, did buy it new from a dealer and brought it to America with her.
So, wow. You can't just go to London today and buy a Hamburg and have it shipped here? How parental and Machiavellian. Are the Astoria and Hamburg shops not under the same corporate umbrella? Is the American division trying to increase sales of their own domestic product? Are they just avoiding the comparison?
I'm so glad certain people aren't present to have their cranial pressures build up right in front of us. That image is still tattooed on the backs of my eyelids, oh my...
I don't see why someone can't make a purchase while physically in Europe and then make all of the shipping, duty, tax, and customs arrangements by themselves. There would be no way that S&S could stop you.
However, if you are purchasing in the US, you must order a piano through any local Steinway dealership. You certainly have the option to travel abroad to make your specific selection, however. The thing that is restricted would be for a North American Steinway Dealership to make all of the export arrangements from Europe to the USA without running it through Steinway Corporate. That makes sense to me.
I don't think it is nearly as restrictive as you are making it out. Steinway is merely assigning their products to be marketed in specific locations. In the piano universe, that is standard practice.
Marty in Minnesota
It's much easier to bash a Steinway than it is to play one.
They are also having shortages in inventory in Hamburg. Maybe that has something to do with it. Steinway says they've lost sales because Hamburg is not producing enough product right now.
I'm sure that Astoria would love to pick up the slack! There should be no reason that the NY facility couldn't build the Hamburg models. Boy, would that set the piano world on its head!
Marty in Minnesota
It's much easier to bash a Steinway than it is to play one.
How come no Steinway people have weighed in on this, or did I miss Bob Snyder somewhere? It seems to me that this thread is a whole lot of speculation, with no one quite certain that the issue is real nor how to figure out whether it is and, if it is, what to suggest (if anything).
I am confused about what to think. . . .I have to say that I find it hard to believe that someone who can afford a new 9' Steinway should be having problems like this. There must be an expert piano technician, experienced at dealing with the very exacting tastes of top performers, who can make a 9' concert grand piano sound the way its owner (or prospective owner) wants it to. After all, concert pianists demand different things of their pianos. . . . Always accepting, of course, that the issue is real in the first place.
It seems to me that this thread is a whole lot of speculation, with no one quite certain that the issue is real nor how to figure out whether it is and, if it is, what to suggest (if anything).
That's exactly what we can't figure out either. I'm sure that Mr. Snyder would prefer to not officially wade into this morass. He may very well be as exasperated as are we.
Marty in Minnesota
It's much easier to bash a Steinway than it is to play one.
Then perhaps "they" shouldn't charge so much for the German built instruments !! 
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