Gray Market Pianos/the tally

[Ron Nossaman]

Kansas,

I see loose tuning pins, loose bridge pins (lots of wild strings), lots of 
(but not particularly wide) soundboard cracks, loose hammer heads, zero or 
negative bearing, negative soundboard crown, and a truly wretched low tenor 
and usually killer octave as a result. generally poor tuning stability and 
erratic and unpredictable reaction to humidity changes. I don't know what 
the soundboards were made of in these pianos 20+years ago, but from what 
I've seen it is softer and more prone to compression damage and splintering 
(as opposed to big cracks) than pianos of similar age produced in this 
country They tend to not be as generally bad in the high humidity of 
Summer, and much worse in the low humidity of Winter. A piano that 
adequately passes a technical inspection in June might very well be 
untunable in January.

The other thing that seems to be almost universally ignored is that these 
are usually 20+ year old pianos, which have been used anywhere from 
sparsely in someone's home, to abusively in some institution. They have 
very little resemblance to current production new Yamahas made for your 
home town. If the piano had been in the RH of it's dreams for it's entire 
life, and is sold into a similarly perfect climate, it would still not be 
something that can be either endorsed, nor condemned out of hand without 
taking into account it's current condition. Throw the climate shift (or 
non-shift, depending on where they end up) into the mix, and it makes it 
even less rational to either endorse or condemn these pianos categorically. 
Being Yamahas, we think we can assume that they weren't outright junk when 
they were new, or this situation would never have developed in the first 
place. Just being a 20 year old used piano, the expectation from the name 
already exceeds the reality of the unit, and there is no longer a 
name/value connection except to the dealer selling it. In those instances 
(as happens with used pianos of all types) when a customer finds out the 
hard way that they don't own the piano they think they bought, they become 
noticeably less satisfied owners.

Gray market Yamahas are like any other used piano. They should be judged 
based on what they were when they were new, where they came from, what sort 
of climate and usage they have experienced through their lives, a 
reasonably comprehensive shakedown of their current condition and sound, 
and lastly if the piano seen before you, with the name it carries, is worth 
the price and is a good risk for purchase.

In my area, they tend to be troublesome, just like a used piano of any 
other name that has come into town from it's first 25 years of life in 
Florida or Louisiana.

If anyone missed any of this thread, don't worry. It will all be repeated 
from beginning to end every 6 - 8 months.
Ron N