We've taken advantage of the Yamaha loan program twice. The first time we had a number of high end, expensive pianos that didn't sell well so the dealer was unhappy and didn't sign on for a couple of years. This year we renewed the program with just basic instruments (7 consoles, 1 small grand, 2 Disklaviers). We're selling them right now (this week to the university community; next week to the public-at-large) and they seem to be moving okay. The dealer is not allowed to make a big production out of the sale. People basically come to look and buy if they want. The dealer hasn't been here all week except to move out one sold instrument. The others that are sold will be delivered later. One aspect of the program that I haven't seen mentioned is this: What do you do with the pianos that the loan pianos are replacing? I presume most universities have a 10 or 20 piano hole that the loan pianos fill. We store 10 pianos so that we can bring them back into service if the program isn't renewed. Moving them in and out is a bit of a hassle. We have also sold some and made the decision that not every practice room has to have a piano in it. In fact some students prefer rooms without pianos; there's more space, and the undamped strings of the piano don't distract the players. We handle the program as if it were a purchase even though we don't buy a single instrument. We make it clear to the dealer that actual purchases would be handled separately. We don't get a percentage of the sale, but we don't have to buy any instruments. In general the program is okay, but I would prefer having our own stock of instruments, paid for and up-to-date. We have a budget to replace/rebuild, but unfortunately it doesn't really keep pace with replacement needs. In June we'll be renegotiating the loan program for the next school year. If we do renew, we'll probably only take 5 pianos. Richard West
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