--- Carol Beigel <carolrpt@hotmail.com> wrote: > The biggest problem I have seen with Yamaha Grey > Market pianos is due to > wood shrinkage during the heating season. Reminds > me of a popsicle stick - > it is straight the moment you eat the popsicle and > crooked and warped a week > later if your kid left it on the lawn! The wood in > ALL parts of the piano > simple changes dimensions - constantly. The > sticking keys in the actions > are intermittent. The soundboards flatten out > during the hearing season > producing no sustainable tone in the treble. I have > even seen cases where > the finish starts to fall off the cabinets. Around > here, people buy them > because "they like the tone" and "they cost half of > what the same model > costs in the store" from the Yamaha dealer. > > I personally do not understand why anyone would > spend $3K on a > twenty-something hard-used piano when they could buy > a new one starting at > $3.7K. I know people who have bought Mercedes Benz > cars directly from > Germany (to save money), and by the time they had > the catalytic converter > work and other environmental controls installed to > pass inspections, they > had spent more money and been through more hassles > than if they had simply > gone to a dealer in their neighborhood. And the > worst part of it was the > cars did not work as well - always something! I > have yet to see a grey > market piano that was truly a good value. > > As for grey market Disklaviers - forget it! Because > they are not UL > approved, Yamaha of America cannot supply parts. > THe product liability > would be enormous if that thing caught fire! I > certainly do not know enough > Japanese to order parts and manual directly from > Japan. > > Put yourself in Yamaha's shoes. THey make very > precise instruments for > different climates, and use the best design of > components for each climate. > They have worked for over 100 years establishing a > brand name that means > "quality" around the world, but have no control over > the secondary market > People who buy these grey market intstruments will > become very unhappy and > badmouth the brand. > > I guess global economies are just very tricky things > these days. > > Carol Beigel > Greenbelt, Maryland > > > >From: "Tom Driscoll" <tomtuner@mediaone.net> > >Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org > >To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > >Subject: grey market pianos > >Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 23:39:00 -0400 > > > >fellow techs, It was with interest that I read > Yamahas warnings about the > >grey market pianos being imported to the United > States . (PTJ) I have the > >utmost respect for Yamaha products, and have always > had cooperation and > >support from all the tech reps , but I just cant > find any differences with > >these pianos from the models Ive been servicing for > years. Are their > >comments possibly a reaction to market loss from > the dealers? Years ago ,in > >response to a question about contruction of yamaha > pianos for our varied > >climate i.e. phoenix vs. houston, I was told that > yamahas were constructed > >to accept all climates , any way ,any comments? < > Thanks Tom Driscoll > > > _________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at > http://www.hotmail.com. > > Share information about yourself, create your own > public profile at > http://profiles.msn.com. Forgive my ignorance, but what someone please tell me what a grey market piano is? Is it a piano made by no-one-knows-who, in a factory in no-one knows-where, who illegally put Yamaha's name on the instrument? > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/
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