August Förster pianos
Samuel et Michael
I want to buy a grand piano and I have been told by my piano teacher
that August Förster are wonderful pianos, with competitive price.
As I did not have the chance to try one yet, I was wondering if anybody
has experience with these pianos. I am particularly interested by 170cm
and 190cm grands.
Thanks a lot.
Michael.
mfresa
Samuel et Michael wrote in message <395DEDF6...@village.uunet.be>...
Orin Harrison
Is your piano teacher on crack? Competitive prices? Really.
The Försters are nice pianos but are very pricey. I would suggest trying a
variety of pianos while balancing quality with value.
And tell your piano teacher to shut up about things he/she knows little
about.
Orin
Larry Fletcher
>Sammy:
>
>Is your piano teacher on crack? Competitive prices? Really.
>
>The Försters are nice pianos but are very pricey.
Maybe one of our Canadian friends can shed a little more light on this, but it
is my understanding that Samicks (or maybe even some Chinese stuff) are sold in
Canada with the name August Forster on them. Some kind of dispute over the name
left two separate August Forsters - one builds good pianos in Germany, one is
an importer who's use of the name is limited to Canada.
If the original poster lives in Canada (and I have no clue as to whether or not
he does) it's possible this is what's being discussed.
Larry Fletcher
Pianos, Inc.
Atlanta, GA
Dealer/Technician
Doing the work of three men..........Larry, Curly, and Moe.
Samuel et Michael
The August Förster I want to buy is made in Löbau, Germany. The price is lower in
Europe than in US and Canada, that's why I call it competitive. The 170cm is around
2300US$ which is not so expensive for a grand piano.
Michael.
Orin Harrison
If you can get a Förster for $2300 US then my apologies for the piano teacher\crack
comment. If I recall, new Försters would start selling around $30,000 US in the US.
And you can get one for $2300 -WOW!
Orin
mfresa
I think the price would be more around $23,000US.
Orin Harrison wrote in message <395F7B11...@aol.com>...
Sebastian Zuendorf
when a friend of mine and me started playing the piano about 10 years ago,
we both bought pianos.
I got a very nice Schimmel and he got a August Förster upright.
Compared with the Schimmel, the Förster has a more mellow sound while the
Schimmel is very bright, and the keys have to be pressed very strong while
they cant be pressed very deep (half a finger...).
I never really liked that piano and even my friend told me that my "old"
Schimmel sounded wonderfull compared with his Förster.
Sebastian
Samuel et Michael <sam.mic.p...@village.uunet.be> schrieb in im
Newsbeitrag: 395DEDF6...@village.uunet.be...
Jones
George Gilliland
grand, approx. 7'6" I think they wanted about $24,000 (Inflated New York City
Dollars) for it. One of the nicest pianos I've ever played. Warm and Clear, very
sweet in the treble. . . and with a very even, lively touch. Better than most
German pianos I've played.
Incidentally, it seemed to me that structurally, the build quality was not quite
up to the standards of some other German companies, such as Bluthner, Grotrian,
Bechstein, etc. More like Baldwin vs. Steinway. . . but it didn't seem to matter
at all. Sounded beautiful, and showed no signs of deterioration whatsoever. . .
Interestingly, this scale design doesn't employ a tuned duplex. In fact there's
no duplex at all on the far end of the strings, similar to (I think) Petrof in
that regard.
At this price I'd consider it an exceptional value. The big grands at least are
beautiful pianos. Personally I'd love to have one sitting here. . .
g.g.
Dwain Lee
George Gilliland <g.gil...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:39652025...@worldnet.att.net...
> I recently played a used August Forster...... Interestingly, this scale
design doesn't employ a tuned duplex. In fact there's
> no duplex at all on the far end of the strings, similar to (I think)
Petrof in
> that regard.
>
George, educate me, please...what is a "tuned duplex?"
Clark
> Sounded beautiful. . .
> Interestingly, this scale design doesn't employ a tuned duplex. In fact there's
> no duplex at all on the far end of the strings
Yes, and what whould be the advantage to these, then?
Clark
George Gilliland
> George, educate me, please...what is a "tuned duplex?"
There are better people than me to explain this, but. . .
. . .very simply put, it's an effort to control the harmonics of the waste
ends of the strings (between the hitch pins and the bridge on the far side,
and between the tuning pins and the agraffes, or capo d'astro bar, on the
near side). Steinway, for example, uses a fixed system of connected aliquots
on the far end, which has been copied by the Asians and others. In the old
days all the better American manufacturers used separate pieces which could
be tapped into different positions (Mason & Hamlin still uses these). Then
Baldwin (thinking they found the perfect locations) started welding them in
place, then Steinway (thinking -they- found the perfect locations) came up
with the whole rack of little polished terminators you see today.
On the near end, most manufacturers attempt to "tune the plate" by
calculating the best length between the string bearing rests and the point of
termination, but some manufacturers also attempt to use some form of
adjustment here as well. Estonia uses little aliquots, and Baldwin uses
adjustable slides for each unison on its two big grands. Some designs (such
as Baldwin L and R) attempt to "tune" the entire plate merely by length of
waste ends and nothing else (with some pretty wild results).
It seems to me that the lower-tension designs benefit more from a tuned
duplex (due to longer sustain) whereas on pianos like Yamaha it probably
doesn't make as much difference because their high tension design produces a
clean, quick-decaying tone.
The whole theory behind tuning the duplex is 1) to try to eliminate
unsympathetic harmonics which would result in an unfocused or weakened
fundamental tone (especially in the treble), and 2) to add color and sustain
to the tone by finding a harmonic that actually enhances the quality of tone
from a given unison (or at least the subjective perception of that tone).
This is obviously very complex when you consider that the number of
combinations is in theory quite high (the number of unmuted duplexes and the
number of unisons squared). So creating a "tuned duplex" that will
consistently produce a pleasing tone across the whole scale must certainly be
a time-consuming and tedious job, even with computers, since there are so
many variables that a computer can't calculate (i.e.: imperfections in wire,
variations in soundboard impedance, density of plate, resonance of case,
quality of hammers, etc., etc.).
Therefore, a design like the Mason & Hamlin, that can be adjusted manually by
a real expert (assuming you could find one), is probably the best. But
getting back to the August Forster (and other pianos like it with either no
waste end, or muted waste ends), you really have to wonder if it's all worth
it in the end (no pun intended). Because these pianos often sound great and
aren't lacking in color at all.
Well, there's the limit of my knowledge. It's a fascinating subject. Along
with other aspects of scale design. . . Wish I had time to learn more. Some
of the above is conjecture based on the substitution of logic where no hard
and fast information is available, so if anyone reads an inaccuracy in any of
the above, please feel free to correct it. . .
g.g.
Dwain Lee
The Piano Book (3d ed., p. 35), and there is additional info and an
illustration that helped to explain the concept. Thanks again!
Buck
piano knowledgeable. There are two August Forster pianos built. One by
Petrof and the real one built by Forster in Lobau, Germany. I was the
manager of a piano import company for 10 years and we imported Petrof/August
Forster/Weinbach/Rosler and Schultz all from what was then CS. August
forster was never built by Samick. August Forster is a Petrof in Canada and
an August forster in Canada is sold under the trade name Berger.We also sold
Berger [German August Forster]
This is due to registered trademark difference in the States and Canada.
Petrof owns the Forster name in Canada. There is also a huge quality
difference.
Although I am now a lowly retailer in Canada I have extensive Knowledge of
different trade names and of course stencil names picked up from 20 years of
servicing and selling pianos in Canada.
I will check back soon to see if this post worked. Would like to get
replies.
Frank Woodside
Classic Piano Centre
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
My direct E:Mail is Buck@axion .net
Larry Fletcher <larryin...@aol.comnojunk> wrote in message
news:20000701144353...@ng-cu1.aol.com...
Larry Fletcher
>Hi. I have never posted to a news group before as I am Computer dumb but
>piano knowledgeable. There are two August Forster pianos built. One by
>Petrof and the real one built by Forster in Lobau, Germany.
Hi Buck,
First, welcome to rmmp! Second, thanks for the informed clarification. I knew
the Canadian A.F. was built by someone other than the German maker, but wasn't
sure who was building it. I thought I had heard it was Samick but wasn't sure,
and felt certain an informed Canadian would provide the correct info. Thanks
for doing so.
paul....@olsonpianoservice.org
paul....@olsonpianoservice.org
paul....@olsonpianoservice.org
paul....@olsonpianoservice.org
There is a pattern of taking well-known brand names by using legal means to get permission to use these names and then put them on cheap pianos, usually made in Korea and particular China. For instance, Knabe is a well-known American piano that died when Aeolian went out of business in the early 1980s. But the Knabe piano sold today in China (I believe) IS NOT the same quality or sound or touch. Sadly, 80% of all pianos made today are being made in China. They are cheap and will have a short life span, but lowest price is what wins in todays market place. Most piano buyers are not sophisticated musicians or pianists. They are buying a piano for: person to take beginner lessons, looks and way to impress their friends and neighbors. There is something to the look of a grand piano in a home and people what that look more than anything else. The quality they are not concerned about nor can they even appreciate.
gregg...@gmail.com
I had also just played a new Bösendörfer 215 which was awesome, with a price of 124,000 Euro. To be fair, the sound quality of the August Forester 170 was quite close to that Bösendörfer.
These tests were in a shop in Wiesbaden DE.
Since I live in a German Hinterhaus, my maximum size is 180 cm .
I'm searching now for a hardly played A.F. 170.!