Offenberg
Moderators: Feg, Gill the Piano, Melodytune
Offenberg
My local dealer is offering a 5ft 2in piano at ?5250. It is unlabelled but is an 'Offenberg'. This make does not feature on the web or in Larry Fine's 'Piano Book'. It sounds and looks excellent. I note Fine's comments in the latest supplement (p 10) that luxury goods are sold largely on image...appealing to vanity, security, prestige etc because the difference in quality between the luxury goods and the next less expensive alternative is usually not great enough to justify the steep difference in price. What does anyone know about 'Offenberg'?
offenberg
He says it is NOT a Steinmayer. It is better than them. Agreed it is a made up name. I don't know which factory (or even which country). What is going on here? How comes a piano can arrive without a brand, and the dealer give it a made up name. Could it be a great bargain? After all, you are not paying for the name.
Re: offenberg
Get him to explain why.pockpock wrote:He says it is NOT a Steinmayer. It is better than them.
Any product sold in the UK must have its country of manufacture or origin clearly marked, be it a mango or a bus. If it hasn't then it's illegal.pockpock wrote:Agreed it is a made up name. I don't know which factory (or even which country). What is going on here? How comes a piano can arrive without a brand, and the dealer give it a made up name.
Many pianos are imported without names and the name badge is applied later with a transfer or adhesive vinyl depending on who is selling it. This is common practice. Chinese factories are not subject to our copyright laws, which is why there are so many bootleg and fake goods on sale in China. Some fake audio equipment may well even be made by the same factory as produces the genuine article, others are simply poor rip offs. The lawfulness of it does not come into the equation. The same applies to pianos. You're dealing with a country which is hungry for Western cash and is still a Communist regime. A country with a highly suspect government (or at least parts of it) and a very capable workforce. God help the lot of us.
I saw a piano the other day which I am fairly certain came out of the Brodmann factory. It had a UK built Langer action and keys as do some Brodmanns and an old German name I'd not seen on a piano built after 1930. 2/3rd the price of a Brodmann.
It could be, but on the other hand it could be crap. Get a local independent tuner to check it out. Remember that having no name on it will make it less attractive to a future purchaser.pockpock wrote:Could it be a great bargain? After all, you are not paying for the name.
It sounds a tad on the expensive side when you could get a Yamaha GB1 or Kawai GM10 for not much more, and they're actually good. No argument.
A semi-decent Chinese grand from the likes of Bentley (Dongbei) or Kingsburg (Yantai Longfeng) could be yours for less than 4k at list, so if the dealer's not going to reveal the heritage of this one, I'd leave it for some other mug.