Jon's Bösendorfer Delivery

[CJ Quinn]

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a thread here where people were telling some guy to expand his shopping beyond his target Bösendorfer.  August Förster was mentioned.  So seeing that this guy lived in NYC I offered for him to come check out my AF190.  He did.  We became instant friends, in a "seperated at birth" sorta way.     He asked me to go shopping with him some more, and inspite of my best efforts, he settled for a Bösendorfer 

I joined Jon at the Bösendorfer NY showroom on a few visits and I was extremely impressed with the honesty and integrity of the Feldmanns.  In a business loaded with awful salespros and appalling spin, the Feldmann's proved themselves to be disarmingly straightforward and honest.  Honesty that  presented itself in a myriad of small details.  An approach that makes one believe they are in for the long haul.  I'd highly recommend them.

Well here's some pics of the piano and a scary low res video I took of the delivery - which required a crane and 6 guys.

Here's the video (best displayed in a small window):

https://www221.pair.com/cquinn/jon/jon_bosie_small.wmv

[edit 4/13 - video taken down, please email me if you want a copy of it, it's ~2MB wmv file]


Here's some more pics:



Jon at the piano:





Me at Jon's piano:

[Danm]

AIIIiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee! Watching piano deliveries makes me kind of queasy, especially when I see a Bosendorfer twisting in the wind.

Nice piano - and nice apartment! You NY guys get it all. So I've always wondered, how much does such a move cost? Not that I'm planning a move that would require such a maneuver any time soon.

Dan

[CJ Quinn]

AIIIiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee! Watching piano deliveries makes me kind of queasy, especially when I see a Bosendorfer twisting in the wind.

Nice piano - and nice apartment! You NY guys get it all. So I've always wondered, how much does such a move cost? Not that I'm planning a move that would require such a maneuver any time soon.

Dan

Dan:

We're *Brooklyn* guys, not just NY guys.  Get that straight willya?

I'll let Jon comment on the price tag.  After watching the whole thing, I'd say it was a bargain.

[Danm]

Oh, uh, urr, sorry Chris 

Give a poor west coast guy a break, it's all a blob to me  (run!)

 

[Danm]

Actually NYC is on the list of 'must visit' places for me. The closest I got was the time I was on a business trip to Europe and a daring thief stole my passport (OK, I lost it (OK OK, I accidently threw it out)) After bluffing my way past the German border guards with some trumped up documents the Embassy gave me (as their computers were down I 'proved' my citizenship by answering some questions about American presidents), I ended up in New Jersey talking to INS officials. I remember looking out a window and seeing the Statue of Liberty, and thinking "I wish that was the Golden Gate bridge " ... 

I imagine it would be alot more challanging now after 9/11

[jon-nyc]

Nice piano - and nice apartment! You NY guys get it all. So I've always wondered, how much does such a move cost?

THanks Dan!

I've been told that hoistings are generally $1500-$3000, mine was $2400.  Given that there were 5-6 guys busy for a couple of hours, plus a truck AND an expensive crane, it doesn't seem excessive.   But I'm sure not going to move for a while!

[iumonito]

A miracle.  Jon, may many years of your piano give you happiness.  I hope you don't have to move.

Post some Ravel to celebrate.  If you take special requests, 2d mov of sonatine is one of my favorites.

[CJ Quinn]

A miracle.  Jon, may many years of your piano give you happiness.  I hope you don't have to move.

Post some Ravel to celebrate.  If you take special requests, 2d mov of sonatine is one of my favorites.

I'll be bringing my recording stuff over to Jon after the piano settles, and Jon gets used to it.  He's been playing on an old Baldwin upright for years.  His Ravel is wonderful, nonetheless.

[Axtremus]

CJQ,

Have you upgraded or are you going to use that "cheap arse" approach to record jon's brand-spanking-new Boesendorfer?

Anyway, it's about time to start a "piano recording craze" over here in this corner of piano forum-dom.

[CJ Quinn]

CJQ,

Have you upgraded or are you going to use that "cheap arse" approach to record jon's brand-spanking-new Boesendorfer?

I am now using the MCA^TM approach (Modified Cheap-Arse).  I now have two decent Audio-Technica mics (not condensors) and an Audiobuddy pre-amp some guy told me about.  (can't remember who, but he plays Rzewsky on a Kawai  )  So I can do stereo.

Jon's room has lots more reverb, and he does not have three dogs running around, so I think we'll try recording back a bit, not close like my recordings.  Should sound fab.

[Axtremus]

Just got around to watch the video.
Cool stuff!

Looking forward to hearing the recording.

[DarkWind]

How much did the Bosendorfer cost? Also, get him to play Ravel's La Valse as well.

[jon-nyc]

How much did the Bosendorfer cost?

DarkWind - I'm contractually prohibited from revealing my price.  I'll just say the list price is $96,500 and I paid less than that.

Also, get him to play Ravel's La Valse as well.

Is there a transcription of La Valse for two hands???

[DarkWind]

Yes, there is a transcription for two hands. In fact, that is the original transcription, made by Ravel himself! He did a four hands version later on.

[jon-nyc]

Yes, there is a transcription for two hands. In fact, that is the original transcription, made by Ravel himself! He did a four hands version later on.

The original was a ballet!  But I imagine he 'worked it out' at the piano, like he always did.  I didn't realize it was ever published for two hands. 

I'll check it out... but it might be a few years before I post a recording

[iumonito]

It is part of the second Ravel book from Dover.  Really hard and really brilliant, although it is more fun to play it with two pianos.

...oh, oh.

[DarkWind]

The original was a ballet!  But I imagine he 'worked it out' at the piano, like he always did.  I didn't realize it was ever published for two hands. 

I'll check it out... but it might be a few years before I post a recording

What I meant by original was that he did two hands before a four hands transcription. Also, the original was going to be a symphonic poem called Wien (Vienna) but then he abandoned it and made it into an orchestral score. It was meant to be a ballet, but Diaghilev rejected the score, and so it was premiered as just an orchestral piece. Later it was produced into a ballet.

[jazzertim]

Did anyone else have their heart come out of their shirt from watching the video? Oh my that was scary. I'm sure it was worth it, though, Congrats on the "Rolls-Royce" of pianos!

[jon-nyc]

Did anyone else have their heart come out of their shirt from watching the video? Oh my that was scary. I'm sure it was worth it, though, Congrats on the "Rolls-Royce" of pianos!

Thanks!

I'm fine watching the video - it was the real life experience that aged me 10 years!

[Axtremus]

Just noticed something......

No caster cups?

Don't you want to protect the casters from the hardwood floor?

I assume you lock down the wheels so there is no risk of it rolling away, even without caster cups. It's also an art to properly align the directions of the wheels for maximum stability and performance if you care to search for that in that other forum.

[iumonito]

Jon and CJ, do you recall whether the Bose was delivered with the action installed or with the action unistalled and just put in place after the rest of the piano was set in place?

[CJ Quinn]

Jon and CJ, do you recall whether the Bose was delivered with the action installed or with the action unistalled and just put in place after the rest of the piano was set in place?

I believe the action was in.  The lid and perhaps the fallboard were removed before it was wrapped up.