Imported used pianos

[Al Jeschke]

Roger & List, 

I know your concern Roger, and it might be in your interest to consider the
length of time those pianos have been there.

  We all learn form experience, and I did from one particular piano that
ended up in my shop for a rebuild job.  It had come to this country via a
furniture dealer, who was importing used pianos, many of which were from
areas where the pianos were subjected to high humidity, whereas this midwest
region of Canada is relatively dry.  The piano had been here for one year
when the owner, who had purchased this particular piano, contacted me.  I
provided an estimate, taking into consideration the additional repairs
required, as caused by the former high humidity.  The client had another
piano for use, so the piano was stored in my shop for approximately a year,
after which time I did the restoration work.  To my great misfortune I was
faced with a good amount of extra work, as caused by the additional year
drying out time, the result of which was greater than that of the first
year.  I had no recourse, but was faced with the additional (gratis)
$1000.00 work.

The lesson I learned - never do any restoration work to a piano from a humid
area for at least two years after it arrives in a dry area!

Al Jeschke RPT
Calgary, Alberta
---------------------------------------------------------------
     
>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.
>
>