Imported used pianos

[Roger Jolly]

At 11:07 AM 12/7/97 EST, you wrote:
>
>In a message dated 12/7/97 3:58:42 AM, you wrote:
>
><<Jim, if I read Roger's observations correctly, I don't think he was
>referring to pianos slated for American consumption, nor was he inferring
>that the pianos in question were of inferior materials so much as he was
>appalled by the condition of the pianos that were and are, represented to
>be in fair condition and are, indeed, in very rough condition.>>
>
>Ralphus;
> I didn't think he was. I thought we were discussing the imported pianos from
>Japan that were made for the Japanese Domestic Market..............but if a
>piano made for the NA market spends its first few years in FL, or TX, or CA,
>and then is taken to the Midwest or the plains in Canada I believe it will
>exhibit the same characteristics as those imported from the Domestic Japanese
>market, IMHO.   
>  Hopefully Roger didn't buy his two instruments from a retailer but rather
>from a whoilesaler.  The degree of "grading "that goes on in the wholesale
>market varies widely and wildly, i.e. there are some whoilsalers you can
>depend on and some that you can't depend on.  Unfortunately it takes some
>investment to find this out.
>There is a wholesaler in NM from whom I would not hesitate to sell
>instruments, sight unseen, as he advertises them to be and there are others
>who have earned the distiction of being in the "trust your neighbor but
tie up
>your camel at night and a loaded gun by your bed category".  Unfortunately
>there seems to be more of the latter rather than the former.
>  Something we need to keep in mind with these and all used instruments is
>that the "grades" are for 'used' instruments and not for 'new' instruments.
>  Suffice it to say that we need not be afraid of these pianos but we do need
>to be very selective as to that which we will tackle.
>Give Maggie a hug for me. 
>Jim Bryant (FL)
>
Hi Jim,
          I bought them from a wholesaler, just forestalling the
competition from handling them. Since we handle Yamaha and Baldwin for the
whole province we felt it was better for us to control the quality of the
product, and protect the brand name identification as well as the
unsuspecting public. It's the ethics of the whole thing that sticks up my
!@#$#$%^ , I've made both teachers and techs aware of what we are doing. On
resale, once rebuilt, we will offer a 5yr warranty with a full price trade
up option. I will sleep well at night.
Regards Roger.
>
Roger Jolly
University of Saskatchewan
Dept. of Music.