Kawai vs. Yamaha

[Jeannie Grassi]

I couldn’t agree more.  (Except I never moved pianos.)  :>)

jeannie

 

 

Jeannie Grassi, RPT
Registered Piano Technician
Island Piano Service
Bainbridge Island, WA
206-842-3721
mailto:jcgrassi at earthlink.net

 

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of piannaman at aol.com
Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 11:07 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: Kawai vs. Yamaha

 

Thought I'd throw my two cents in the bucket here.  

 

I tune hundreds of Kawai pianos.  I find them to be easy to tune as a rule,
particularly the RX series.  I do find the occasional unstable piano, but
that isn't unique to Kawai.  

 

There are two things I particularly like about Kawai as a company:  

 

1). Unwillingness to rest on laurels/willingness to do different things,
notably the "plastic" actions(which are in a state of constant improvement),
despite taking heat from many in the piano community. 

 

2).  The responsiveness and ethical nature of their tech support.  Problems
are handled promptly and without alot of red tape.  They listen to tech's
concerns and take recommendations into consideration.

 

I have never seen a Kawai lyre I would call poorly made.  I used to use them
to tip the pianos up all the time when I was a mover--unlike Schimmels lyres
which would disintegrate after a couple of moves (DAMHIK).

 

I get lots of 10-20 year old Kawais, even the cheaper models like the GE1,
that have been let go to seed for many years.  They revive well.  They
regulate easily, and respond well to standard voicing techniques.

 

In my humble opinion, both as a piano player and a tech, comparing Kawais to
Yamahas is an apples to oranges argument. 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "PIANISSIMO PIANOFORTE S.L." <patrick at pianospianissimo.com
<mailto:patrick%40pianospianissimo.com> >
To: <deanmay at pianorebuilders.com <mailto:deanmay%40pianorebuilders.com> >;
"Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org <mailto:pianotech%40ptg.org> >
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006 12:16 PM
Subject: Kawai vs. Yamaha. was: near impossible tuning



> Dale wrote:   I really like the Kawai grands in general. The tone is far
> more interesting than it other Japanese competitor & I can do wonderful
> things with the voicing .

For me, (and i'm sure many others will agree) Kawai's are not very
consistent in tone. Some are really nice, many are not. Yamaha's arent
that consistent either, but at least the sound doesnt "distort" when
played louder. As Dale just said, with most Kawais all you get is NOISE
after a second of sustain. Even though many kawais seem like they have a
very nice tone when you first play one, it doesnt last!

> These are pianos with original hammers that have probably never had a
> needle
> stuck in them. Is this a hammer/voicing problem?

hmm... most yamahas ive seen havent either been neddled and they dont have
that problem

We import many used Yamahas and Kawais, and the difference in quality is
clear, the materials and the way yamahas are made are much better by FAR.
Starting out with the casework for instance, while kawai lyres just fall
to bits even if only a few months old, i have never seen or heard of a
yamaha lyre loosen. The castors, the bolts and screws, etc, kawai ones
just scream the words "cheap n nasty", no matter how many times you do and
undo yamaha bolts/screws, they'll still keep the thread and the heads wont
become useless. On older uprights is not uncommon to see rusty colums
(legs) as they where made of metal. And on newer ones made of plastic,
they kind of bend! We have now stopped using kawais for concert hire
because of these things and of course tuning stability is far superior on
yamahas.

Action-wise (kawai).... what's all that plastic doing there??? might be ok
when new, but when you need to replace stuff... pedal mechanisms often
make all sorts of noises... etc etc. The only thing i can think of right
now that i really like on kawai grands is the screw adjustment for the
springs on whippens, quick and delightful to regulate with those! BTW the
new black ABS plastic whippens are just weird!!

Havent seen the Shigeru models yet, are they any better? Don't think they
can beat the Yamaha S series, can they?

Patrick


>
>
>
>
> I don't get it. Most all of the Kawai grands I tune (which aren't that
> many)
> I don't really care much for. Since there aren't any new Kawais being sold
> in this area most of the ones I encounter are 10 plus years old of the KG
> variety, a couple of GS, one GS-70. I don't like the sustain. With the
> sustain pedal on when playing an arpeggio the sound quickly fades into
> white
> noise and one cannot discern what scale was just played. I've done some
> experimenting even, hitting individual notes across the scale with an f
> blow
> and I get about a second of tone before there is only noise.
>
>
>
> These are pianos with original hammers that have probably never had a
> needle
> stuck in them. Is this a hammer/voicing problem?
>
> Dean
>
> Dean May             cell 812.239.3359
>
> PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272
>
> Terre Haute IN  47802
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org <mailto:pianotech-bounces%40ptg.org>
[mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org <mailto:pianotech-bounces%40ptg.org> ] On
> Behalf
> Of Erwinspiano at aol.com <mailto:Erwinspiano%40aol.com> 
> Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 10:18 AM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org <mailto:pianotech%40ptg.org> 
> Subject: Re: near impossible tuning
>
>
>
>   Dittos Roger
>
>   Ed Normally I find Kawai a very stable piano.   I tuned a Kg-2 the other
> day &  I had not tuned it for 3 years.  Except for being 6 cents flat,
> enough for a pitch raise, it was in solidly in tune with itself & I
> wondered
> why I was there. It is also an easy piano to tune.
>
>    I really like the Kawai grands in general. The tone is far more
> interesting than it other Japanese competitor & I can do wonderful things
> with the voicing .  However on some of the grands & verticals a like have
> pins do not render well.
>
>   Ed I don't get it & would like to know this is only an isolated incident
> as I currently have a client looking to buy one of the same models
>
>  Dale
>
> After lifting, leveling, and fitting, the power, sustain, and  voicing
> will
> improve.
>
> String lifting is a skill just like tuning, I would hardly call it
> indiscriminate.
>
> Regards Roger
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>


Patrick Hinves Ballesta
Afinador/Técnico 610442371
PIANISSIMO PIANOFORTE S.L.

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