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.

"We absolutely love the piano! As you know, I had very high expectations and they have all been met or exceeded. It is as much a pleasure to play as it is to listen to. My daughter's first comment was "this piano is easier to play" which I agree with 100 percent, as I don't play often and don't have very strong fingers, but I found I could play some rapid passages evenly for the very first time due to the responsiveness of the action. We actually enjoy listening to our six year old daughter play simple songs and exercises (over and over)--the lovely tone of this piano is really special! The mid range is mellow, the very high notes sing, and the very low notes almost growl a little--I am already feeling like this piano has a real character of its own. Thank you all for creating it for us!"

-- The Krause family