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| | | Links to Recordings | January 25th, 2010 |
We've suddenly received a number of links from customers to folks performing on our pianos. Be sure to check them out on our links page. We've refrained in the past from putting recordings on the site because of concern over the sound quality, but these are all very well done and representative of the musical quality of our instruments. Enjoy!
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| | | Steingraeber & Sohne Modell A-170 Phoenix | January 25th, 2010 |
We are SO excited to be able announce that we have purchased a new Steingraeber & Sohne 5'7" Phoenix grand with the newly introduced bridge agraffe system! We played this piano at a private showing last February and Darrell has been lusting for it ever since. He says it's the best piano he's ever encountered. The bridge agraffe system allows the soundboard to function at its full potential with such a rich and yet clear tone, as we've never heard before. It makes me picture an exquisite, highly colorful, beautifully executed stained glass window. Please come by and try it when you are in the area.
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| | | 2009 Review | December 16th, 2009 |
As we're all well aware, 2009 has been a tough year for the world's economy. The piano industry has been struggling, with sales down at all levels. The European manufacturers in particular have been hit hard by the high euro/dollar relationship, making exports difficult.
Here at Fandrich & Sons we've been fortunate. A fortuitously timed article in the Seattle Times (see link on the home page) brought us a lot of service work during the first part of the year when sales were nearly at zero. Later in the spring sales began picking up again, for which we of course are grateful.
In January we did our annual several day service visit to the Icicle Creek Music Center in Leavenworth to service their eight pianos for their piano festival. The temperature ranged from about 0 to 15 degrees and a foot of new snow was added to the two or three feet already there during our visit. We put on our long underwear and -20 degree boots and a great time was had by all. Of course, the infamous "Pineapple Express" weather came in from Hawaii the afternoon we left, raising the temperature (and thus humidity) 20 degrees, ruining all of our fine work. This sparked Darrell and our technician friend John Rhodes to start on the design of a new completely enclosed easy to maintain humidity control system for their concert grand piano.
In February we attended the California state Piano Technician Guild convention in Burbank, CA. With John Rhodes, RPT, we taught classes on the Fandrich Weightbench keyweighting method that we developed for our grand pianos, and a class we called "Mythbusters" about what's real and what's not in piano technology, both of which were very well received. We also were privileged to get a sneak peak at the new Steingraeber & Sohne "Phoenix" grand piano with its new bridge pin system. Darrell says it is without a doubt the best grand piano he's ever encountered, in every way. On the way home we stopped and serviced some of our "babies" in California and Oregon.
In June we attended the Washington State Music Teachers Association convention in Yakima, WA where our 5'5" grand piano was the featured piano in the main classroom. We met a lot of dedicated, inspiring teachers and thoroughly enjoyed all the concerts by the students (and teachers). From there we drove to Walla Walla to visit our grand in the Backstage Bistro restaurant, which features live classical and jazz piano, and wonderful food also.
In July we did our annual summer trip to Icicle Creek to prepare the pianos for the 3 week long chamber music festival. What a change in the weather--hot and sunny most of the time. Leavenworth truly has four seasons. While we were there we installed the prototype humidity control system in the concert grand and have been monitoring it on our monthly tuning visits.
In September we were invited to teach an all day seminar on the Weightbench system for the Spokane Chapter of the PTG, at Eastern Washington State University in Cheney. We enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones there. We went on to visit a couple of customers in the Spokane area and then on our annual road trip to visit family and friends in North Dakota and Minnesota. We also visited four piano customers in Minneapolis. It's always fun to meet the customers who ordered sight unseen, and also to see the pianos in their homes, and to see how much they are appreciated by their families.
Over the course of the year our technical staff has continued to increase their knowledge of piano insides and refine their skills. Our youngest son Steffen has joined Nate in the regulation and servicing of the pianos as well as continuing their refinishing projects. And I (Heather) decided in June to learn to tune pianos, which i am enjoying immensely. Of course it helps to have one of the best tuners in the universe as my teacher....
Thus Fandrich & Sons continues to thrive, even in this economic downturn. We attribute this to our niche in the piano market. We seem to attract those who are looking for the musical quality of their instruments and aren't so concerned about brand name familiarity or getting a great "discount". They realize that our pianos are a great bargain, as Darrell says, the musical bargain of the century, because of our combination of the musicality of the most expensive pianos with prices in the low end of the moderate price range, and the service we provide.
We thank you all for sticking with us and we look forward to being around for a long time to come!
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| | | Fandrich & Sons Grand Pianos in Brandon, Manitoba | December 16th, 2009 |
We are pleased to announce that Mark Cramer, RPT of Brandon, Manitoba, is building and selling the Fandrich & Sons Model 185HGS-A grand to the eastern Canadian market. Mark has been licensed by us and trained in our shop. We visited Mark in his shop in Brandon on our way home from Dallas in 2003 and we're greatly impressed by the quality of his work. We're very pleased with his success in replicating our tone and action performance. Mark is the technician for Brandon University, and is also associated with the Banff School of Fine Arts. He has a long career working with high end pianos for concert performance as well as maintaining the many pianos at the University. Mark can be reached at cramer@brandonu.ca.
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| | | Introducing Our New Grand Model | December 16th, 2009 |
We are really pleased to have discovered the Weickert felt hammers recently re-introduced to the piano world after a long absence. Weickert felt is produced in Germany and was the felt used on Steinway hammers (both New York and Hamburg) in what's often referred to as the "Golden Era" of Steinway, pre World War II. The factory was bombed in the war and the felt has only recently become available again. The Ronsen Company in New York is now producing hammers using the Weickert felt. After trying a set on one of our 185 grands, we were so thrilled with the tone and the voiceability of the hammers that a new Fandrich & Sons grand model has been born!
From now on (December 2009) the S model will continue to have all of the original parts from the Dongbei factory.
The HGS model will have all original parts except the hammers will be the Ronsen Weickert felt hammers.
The HGS-A model will have Renner hammer shanks, Weickert felt hammers and Arledge bass strings.
We'll look forward to receiving your feedback about these new hammers!
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| | | Fandrich & Sons pianos around the US and elsewhere | August 1st, 2008 |
There are Fandrich & Sons piano owners in California (Bay Area, LA-Palm Springs), Washington, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, Illinois (Chicago/Evanston), Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota (Minneapolis), New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Alaska, Tennesee, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming and Wisconsin, many of whom have volunteered to let people come to their homes and try their pianos. Contact us for details.
We also have a Fandrich & Sons grand in France, several in Canada, some uprights in Thailand, and a Fandrich action upright in Mexico. And the Beatles George Harrison's son continues to play daily on the Fandrich upright his father bought from Darrell's brother Del's Fandrich Piano Company in the early 1990's when they were building the first upright using the Fandrich Vertical Action.
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| | | Classical Grands Closed--Fandrich & Sons Continues | July 31st, 2008 |
Earlier in 2009, Steve Metzler, owner of Classical Grands, decided to close the store and focus on his wine business. Fandrich & Sons continues with the dealership for August Forster and Feurich pianos. We do a complete preparation and service to these pianos, just as we do for our Fandrich & Sons pianos and Bohemias. We currently have an August Forster Model 170 and a Feurich 123V in our showroom. We also continue our relationship with Steingraeber & Sohne.
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| | | Feurich 123V update | July 31st, 2008 |
The first Feurich Model 123 48" upright with the Fandrich Vertical Action made its debut at the 50th International Piano Technician Guild Convention in Kansas City, MO June 20-24, 2007 and was promptly purchased by the first prospective customer who played it. Built in Gunzenhausen, Germany by the Feurich Piano Company (now in its fifth generation of Feurich family ownership) with the Fandrich Vertical Action built by Renner, the piano was quickly nicknamed the "Feurich Fandrich Ferrari". All who played it agreed that the combination of the Fandrich Action and the Feurich musical design results in the best upright available today, and perhaps the best upright ever. Julius Feurich spent an intensive week at our shop in June, 2008 and production of the first Feurich 123V's to be completed entirely at the Feurich factory in Gunzenhausen is now underway. These pianos will be available from the Fandrichs and also other Feurich dealers in the US and Germany.
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| | | New Fandrich & Sons Models | January 12th, 2006 |
We have added three new models of grands, the Fandrich & Sons Model 165S (5'5"), Model 185S (6'1") and Model 203HGS (6'8")which replaces the older 7' model. The S-series are the same as the HGS-series except for a simpler soundboard system and original German felt hammers and Roslau bass strings. All receive the extensive 60 hour preparation that has made our pianos a favorite among pianists who are looking for top quality action response and tone at a reasonable price.
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| | | Jazz Pianist Records a CD on a Fandrich & Sons Model 185 | September 4th, 2005 |
Jim Martinez, www.jimmartinez.com, performed a gospel jazz concert on our 6'1" grand at the California State Piano Technicians Guild convention in Sacramento. He liked it so much he used it for a CD recording session the following week - the CD will soon be available. One of his numerous comments praising the piano, "This piano is fantastic, it's like an extension of my brain."
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| | | Larry Fuller | March 13th, 2005 |
Performed on the Fandrich & Sons Model 215 at the Pacific Northwest Piano Technician Guild banquet on March 12, 2005 in Renton, WA. Larry's comment during the concert: "This is the fourth time I've played on this Fandrich & Sons piano. I recorded a CD on it at the Seattle Art Museum in January. It's a great pleasure to play on these pianos - They are wonderful!" Watch for the release of this new CD at www.larryfullerjazz.com
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