I received 6 comments regarding the Hyundai pianos. Two people told me to stay away from them, three said they were worth selling, and one person told me of a problem. Larry Fine also wrote and said the Hyundai's were made by Samick. I was also told that the Hyundai and the Maeari pianos were identical. One person commented that he started selling Hyundais, but switched to the Maeari, because of the name, since Hyundai is alsa a car. The main comment of those who favor the Hyundai (and the Maeari), was that they need a lot of prep before they are ready for sale, such as tighten screws, voicing, fine regulation, etc. Other than that, they seem to be "good" instruments, for the most part. I want to thank those who contributed their comments. I want to editorialize a little regarding the fact that these pianos need to be prepped. As one person told me, the main problems with the low end pianos is that the manufacturer can save a couple of bucks by not doing the final prep in the factory. Perhaps only $100 is saved by not doing this, but multiplied by 100,000 pianos, that can add up. The problem, I think, is that most dealers who sell these instruments don't want to, or can not afford to, do the final prep work themselves. Because these pianos do not make as much money for them, these dealers do not want to spend the money to do what is necessary to make these instrumetns saleable. I don't think it would take much more time to prep a Samick, or Hyundai, as it does to prep a Yamaha, or Steinway, but the dealers who sell these insturment realize a bigger profit, so they are willing to spend the time and money on them. I think, as piano techs, if you want to get into selling new pianos, and have a chance to sell a Hyundai, go for it. You, as a tech, will be able to do the prepping these pianos need, at no cost to you, other than your time, and come out making some money. Willem Blees RPT St. Louis
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