It is arguable that Estonia is now “the hottest piano on the planet.” Immaculately crafted, Estonia pianos have a history dating back to 1893, yet the Estonia piano had been an almost unknown member of the piano industry until about 15 years ago when Estonia, a tiny country just across the Baltic Sea from Finland, gained its independence after the break-up of the Soviet Union.
After Estonia gained its freedom, the country’s nationalized piano company was privatized in 1994 under the ownership of its managers and employees. At that time, Dr. Indrek Laul, an Estonian and renowned pianist was a PhD candidate in piano performance at the Julliard School of Music. He began buying shares of the company until he took control in 2001.
Control By Dr. Indrek Laul
After gaining control, Dr. Laul substantially improved the design of the piano by changing over 300 different elements, upgraded its components, and revamped the factory’s operations. He also brought his family into the business, including his father who is also a professional musician and worked with the Estonian National Choir. For a video about Estonia, Click Here.Today, Dr. Laul runs the company from the United States where he serves as the direct distributor from the factory. His father runs quality control at the factory in Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn. In short, the Laul family has transformed Estonia into one of the piano industry’s greatest success stories by keeping production limited to about 400 grand pianos a year and focusing on a high level of quality.
Personal Quality Control
Estonia's quality control is becoming legendary. Each piano has a quality control certificate signed by a member of the Laul family that testifies that a member of the family has inspected and played the piano. To show their customer concern, when the factory’s employees go on vacation every summer, the Laul family remains behind and answer all customer service inquiries themselves. People making routine inquiries receive direct emails from either Dr. Laul or his father.The word is now out about the Laul family’s amazing attention to detail and the almost total redesign of the Estonia piano into one of the best in the world. Luminaries from Van Cliburn to Ray Charles have waxed poetic about the Estonia pianos. Over the last several years there have been more than 200 newspapers nationwide reporting on the Estonia, along with an article in Forbes magazine, and recommendations from countless teachers and technicians who have fallen in love with its rich, warm, amazingly-clear, romantic tone.
Is Estonia the Hottest Piano On The Planet?
We buy our Estonia pianos directly from Dr. Laul, which cuts out the middleman found in other pianos. Buying direct from the owner of the company allows us to sell these fine pianos at unbelievably low price in relationship to their quality, which is why we call the Estonia “the hottest piano on the plant.”. While Estonia makes a 9' concert grand, its strength is in its Models 168 and 190, which are 5'6" and 6'3", respectively.Because Estonia still has relatively low labor rates and cuts out the mark-up that comes when a piano brand has an independent U.S. distributor, the Models 168 and 190 are priced closer to mass-produced pianos than to the hand-crafted, Highest Quality and High Quality Performance-Grade European and American pianos with whom they directly compete.
Top of the Price/Performance Value Curve
When we talk about the price/performance value curve, we believe that Estonia Models 168 and 190 are at the very top of that curve. They truly represent what, in the vernacular, you can call “the best bang for the buck.”But don’t take out word for it. Come in and play the remarkable Estonia piano to see what the buzz is all about.
For more information, visit Estonia's website.
Also, you can read the following articles:
Read the Forbes magazine article about the Estonia Pianos dated September 15, 2003
Read the Forbes magazine article about the Estonia Pianos dated September 01, 2003
Read the Bloomberg Interview dated July 27, 2004
Read the Associated Press article dated June 25, 2004
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