Blisters on finish

[Carol R. Beigel]

I came across a beautiful Yamaha U3 today that I am sure is a "gray market"
piano.  It was about 20-30 years old (according the the dealer who sold it)
and had clean, shining tuning pins, new hammers, new keytops, and new back
checks and looked really great.  The give away was the stained keys, dirty
bridle tapes, and stains on the keybed.  It also had Yamaha on the front
board, and Nippon Gakki on the plate.  Probably was a reconditioned "school"
piano.

But the real kicker was the finish.  It was a really red mahogany piano with
a water-clear finish.  Had no buffing marks and was the clearest, cleanest
finish I ever saw.  It was not lacquer or varnish and probably not shelac.
It sort of looked like polyester, but it was starting to blister at the
bottom of the front board.  When pressing on the larger blisters, the finish
or "skin" was soft.  I would think eventually these blisters would crack and
the finish start to peel off.  But any polyester finish I ever saw was very
hard.

So what to do?  What might this finish be?  How could it be repaired?
Should it just be left alone?  The customer purchased this used piano less
than a year ago and paid about half what a new one of like model would cost.
She is very pleased with the sound of this piano, and loves the appearance.
EVen if these blisters get worse, they are covered by the music desk.  Or is
this just another one of those problems associated with "gray market"
pianos.

Carol Beigel
Greenbelt, Maryland