Imported used pianos

[Roger Jolly]

Greetings to all,
                 I am not sure if this is the place to air this kind of
warning,or if I am abusing the list by posting the following comments, but
I have thought long and hard on the subject, and will voice my concerns.

     The market is being flooded in some locations with used Japanese
pianos that were manufactured for the Japanese market. Typically these
units have been used in universities and schools for periods of 25 to 40
years.

  Many retailers are passing these units off as being representative of the
leading Japanese manufacturers products.

  However there is several major problems.

    These pianos were manufactured specifically for high humidity climates.
Therefore the seasoning of the lumber is not controlled to the same
rigorous drying down process. In fact I am in reciept of a letter from Mr
Hajime Hayashida the general manager of the Yamaha Corps. Engineering
Group, that states in no uncertain terms that production for North America
has and tightest engineering and climatic control specifications, as well
as superior construction materials.

    He goes on to warn potential buyers that the following, is a list of
potential problems that may be encountered.

Verbatum quote.
  1.Action problems-warping.misalignment of parts,glue joint failures,
sluggish response, "sticking" keys and adjustment of the action.
  2. Loosening of screws and tuning pins, possible failure of tuning pin
block.
  3. Warping and sometimes cracking of case parts and major parts such as
sound boards and bridges: "rippling" of finishes.
  4. Seperation of the glue joints holding major assemblies
together-examples,backpost,soundboards,ribs,bridges etc.

  To add to this I would like to cite my own experience.

  We purchased 3 Yamaha grands several months ago at a price that was
attractive, for so say B+ to A graded quality units? Whatever that means.
  We now intend to rebuild all three, as unleashing this product on the
unsuspecting public would be a travisty.
  As the humidity has been low for a few months the pins now torque in the
25-30lb range. The only reason that a scale is playable at all is due to
the extreme rust on the strings, hence no singing quality, The rust on the
strings and all brass components show clear evidence of not only high
humidity,but also signs of a highly polluted industial enviroment. Brass is
absolutly green. Copper Sulphate. The copper component of the brass in
contact with the sulphuric acid in industrial pollution.
  Hammers have been reshaped so often, down to the wood in the treble, nice
reshaping jobs, must have good techs over yonder.
  Key bushings' as you would expect with 25yrs plus of hard playing.
  Action centres GREEN!
  Down bearing was in the 0.025" range, with dial gauge 2 months ago, it is
now 0.017 avg. We will start rebuilding in feb to make sure we are not
wasting our time.
  These units may fair quite well on our coastal regions but in the centre
of the continent there is going to be a lot of mad customers, and lots of
work.
  I have heard of a couple of cases where these units are slipped into
university sale events, so please warn your clients that if the piano has
only two pedals to be very careful, and have the unit checked by a
professional technicial.
  Normally I'm positive and upbeat about our industry but this type of
trade practice sickens me.
I appologise in advance if I have offended anyone with this post as it is a
little off subject.
Regards to all
Roger 
Roger Jolly
University of Saskatchewan
Dept. of Music.