Pianos by Fandrich & Sons

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Home of the one and only Fandrich Vertical Action that plays like a grand.

Fandrich & Sons Pianos opened in a small store in Seattle, WA in 1993. It is family owned and operated, since 2000 at our home on 5 acres in the woods near Stanwood, WA. The rise of the internet allowed us to move home, where we have our 2000 sq.ft. workshop and our studio with the finished pianos on display.
	Darrell Fandrich, RPT studied violin and piano as a child. He became interested in how pianos worked, and at age 16 studied piano technology at the University of Minnesota's McPhail School of Music, which began a lifelong fascination with how to make pianos more musical. He has put his degree in mechanical engineering to use in developing several innovations that have received significant recognition. See Darrell's resume for more details.
	Heather Fandrich began piano lessons at age 5. She studied piano for 8 years, but with less and less diligence, which she now realizes was largely due to an uninspiring practice piano. She got her BA and master's degree in social work and worked in the juvenile justice system for 28 years. She and Darrell met because her father, Robert Jenny, wrote Darrell's first two US patents. Only after she and Darrell were married did she learn that pianos were in her genes--her great, great grand-father was Frederick Mathushek, a noted piano designer and builder in the late 1800's. Her first experience with a musical piano was playing the prototype of Darrell's Fandrich Vertical Action™. Now she fervently wishes she had grown up with a musical piano, as she knows the results of her musical studies would have been quite different.

At the July 2002 International Piano Technician Guild Convention in Chicago, IL there were 106 exhibits, including virtually all of the piano manufacturers. We happened to be in the booth next to the 7' Bosendorfer with our Fandrich & Sons Model 165HGS 5'5" grand piano and one of our Model 126V uprights. Besides having at least 6 dealers tell us they would buy our pianos at our current prices and mark them up almost double if we would let them become Fandrich & Sons dealers, we heard the following comments:

Regarding the Model 126V, as always, "This is the best upright piano I have ever played, the tone is so even and clear, the action is amazing!"

Regarding the 5'5" Model 165HGS, "This is the best action of any of the pianos here. It is so controllable, even at the quietest levels of play." "The tone of your grand is more even than the Bosendorfer [to be fair, the Bosendorfer had been delivered to the convention right out of the box]. "This piano has more heart than the 9' Bluthner concert grand on the other side of the curtain!" "This is how a treble should sound!".

And over and over, "It's hard to believe this is only a 5'5" grand, it sounds at least as big as a 6'." and also many times "My friend said I had to come and try this piano!"