Celebrating 25 Years in Business   Home  |  Pianos  |  Comments  |  Feedback  
Home of the one and only Fandrich Vertical Action that plays like a grand.
[previous page]  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16 [next page] 



"I played a few phrases and I said to myself 'This piano is my friend.' You can put sounds together like a string of pearls. You can make it whisper or play as hard as you want and it won't disintegrate on you. If you're interested in buying a piano, don't forget about this one!"

-- Dave Frishberg
performing on the 7' Fandrich & Sons grand piano at the jazz party, 'Jazz at the Inn at Semi-ah-moo'.



"Last Sunday morning while seated at the Fandrich & Sons grand piano which you crafted for our church, I rendered one of the most sublime performances of Cesar Franck's Panis Angelicus in the history of the world! I was deeply moved in the midst of this beautiful musical prayer to realize that it was not just me making such a beautiful sound...every one of you who touched that fine instrument in its conception and fabrication had a hand in that particular piece of music last Sunday....You were not there to witness the hush and the grandeur of the moment....But I must say 'thank you' many times over for the pride and brilliance you put into your work."

-- Cass Seely
pianist at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, regarding their Fandrich & Sons 213HGS (7'grand).



"I'm picky. Before I bought my Fandrich & Sons 7' foot grand piano, I played every instrument on the market. Yes, I make my money performing "Rock" music, but I was classically trained and still have the dream of making that last hard 10 percent to become a world class legitimate player. And I needed an instrument with the touch and dynamic range to take me there--an instrument expressive enough to play Chopin but still powerful enough to swing the blues. I chose the Fandrich piano over all the rest in the world, and she has not disappointed me."

-- Ray Montgomery
Seattle pianist recently with New York Jimmy and the Jive Five on their national tour.



"This piano is easy to work with. It has a quality of being bright while at the same time being warm, like you usually only get with Steinways if they're done right."

-- John DiMartino
Pianist with Ray Barretto and Kenny Burrell with New World Spirit, at the Earshot Jazz Festival at Seattle's Town Hall.



[previous page]  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16 [next page] 
"When I started looking for a vertical piano I set out to get a good one. First, I read Larry Fine's book cover to cover. Then I went to 15 piano shops in the San Francisco Bay Area and played about 50 pianos from 14 different piano manufacturers. I also used the Internet to ask questions of registered piano technicians on their opinions of the tuning stability, manufacturing quality, serviceability and general opinions of the pianos I had played. Finally, I retained a consultant, the president of the local piano technician's guild, to supplement my musician's-ear approach to evaluating pianos. He told me not to make a decision before going to see Darrell Fandrich's pianos. By far the single most important factor, however, was my own ears. I played many vertical pianos that were over $20,000 that were uneven across the scale. I played many others that, despite the illustrious name on the fallboard, had part but not all of the tonal qualities I was seeking. Basically, at a premium price I could find brightness and tonal clarity or I could find warmth and richness. But I couldn't find both these qualities in one instrument. Until I visited Darrell Fandrich. I chose the 49" Wilhelm Steinberg vertical piano outfitted with the Fandrich & Sons action. I found this piano to have a superb action, very smooth scale and a sound that integrated the best of the European clarity and American warmth that I had been seeking. I didn't make this decision on price, but I was pleased that the piano that really made my heart sing was less than half the price of what the instruments I was comparing it to sell for. I was also very impressed with the 6'11" Fandrich & Sons grand. I have played many, many Steinway B series grands over the years. (In fact, it has also been 20+ years since I played a really good New York Steinway.) But the Fandrich & Sons grand had it. It had the same kind of singing lyricism as a really good New York Steinway prepped right. I was thrilled. And to think that this piano sells for $26,000! If I had the room in my house for a grand I would have taken the piano home with me right then. My advice to other piano shoppers is that Fandrich & Sons pianos are targeted at a particular segment of piano buying population; Those that:

1. Have good enough ears to recognize a really good instrument when they see it
2. Are driven more by musical considerations than those of status aka 'fallboard fixation'
3. Are not sufficiently wealthy to eliminate price from being an issue to which they pay attention

If you find yourself in the same category as I then you owe it to yourself to try out Fandrich & Sons pianos and let your ears be the judge. I flew all the way from San Francisco and am delighted I did."


-- Terry Tippie
Contact information available upon request.