My recent travels have taken me to a well known retailer in the East and a well known university in, well, the US.  Both are staffed by  serious piano people and to me, both represent a problem this industry is facing. They both are basically sending the message that new piano manufacturers have little value. In the case of the retailer, they are emphasizing their very idiosyncratic approach to rebuilding, essentially sending the message that the best piano is an old Steinway. To be clear, they are not a Bosendorfer dealer and another high end European maker ended their relationship with them recently. In the case of the University, they are an active rebuilding shop focusing on rebuilding a motley but carefully selected collection of rather worn out pianos. The rebuilds are high quality, done by very serious people. Both of these organizations have specific, carefully thought out reasons to

Saw a model 200, about 30+ years old, rebuilt by a reputable shop. The original Schwander action had new Renner whippens. The hammers were Renner blues, the bass strings probably Mapes.  While overall the work was of reputable quality, it was a long way from Bosendorfer and had this strange burnt orange, thick lumpy finish on the plate. The real question is, what is it? I would argue that it is not a Bosendorfer anymore since so many of the parts were not original. This flies in the face of common rebuilder philosphy, at least here in the US. This approach comes from the experience with American Steinway which says that a good rebuilder can actually make a piano BETTER than the original. The issue is that assumptions made about one make of piano do not translate directly to another and most of the tweaks that people would take for