Use to be American made Yamahas....;-[ David Ilvedson, RPT Pacifica, CA 94044 ----- Original message ---------------------------------------- From: "Gary Fluke" <gary.fluke at verizon.net> To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org> Received: 11/8/2007 4:24:29 PM Subject: Re: has anyone ever tried this? >Michael, >I sold Kawais along with thirteen other piano brands (lots of them Aeolian) >at a large store in the late seventies. They would come all the way from >Japan and usually be in an amazingly decent state of tune, especially >considering the trip by sea. They put the American and Korean pianos to >absolute shame when it came to quality of construction, preparation and >tuning stability. Having said that, my very limited experience with >American made Yamahas has been good so far. >Gary Fluke >Snohomish, WA >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Michael Magness" <IFixPianos at yahoo.com> >To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org> >Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 6:59 AM >Subject: Re: has anyone ever tried this? >> On Nov 8, 2007 7:35 AM, Ron Nossaman <rnossaman at cox.net> wrote: >>> >>> > Good info....thanks. >>> > >>> > Brian P. Doepke, (dep-kee) >>> >>> Sure. I spent a whole lot of hours over the years trying to >>> find information on long term creep, or stretch, of steel >>> under moderate load at room temperature, and that's all I've >>> found. Apparently, it's so inconsequential as to be not worth >>> mention in the references. >>> Ron N >>> >> The "stabilization of a new piano is possible to some extent, >> referring back to an earlier post of mine (that I would rather >> forget)regarding seating of strings, which I am not bringing up again >> or advocating at this time. I mentioned a friend and mentor of mine >> had seen film of the stringing department at a Japanese factory. In >> that film they carefully, using a brass drift and small hammer "set" >> all of the bends at hitch and bridge pulled the wire up at the >> agraffes or capo set the coils with coil setters. He being a rebuilder >> adopted this practice and found he had less "chipping" to do and the >> pianos stabilized faster. >> >> I have been on the receiving end of this Japanese manufacturing >> treatment. When I first began tuning for a Kawai dealer over 25 years >> ago the entire line was made in Hamamatsu, Japan. The pianos would >> arrive boxed, on a skid wrapped in a heavy plastic wrap, no not >> wrapped, sealed and when opened and removed from the skid and the >> action was untied the piano would be in tune with itself, usually >> about 25c sharp! It wasn't perfectly in tune, there were rough unisons >> here and there but for the most part it was, decently, by octaves, in >> tune. Within a week to ten days it would go out of tune depending on >> time of year, summer/fall took a little longer. These were verticals >> for the most part with the occasional grand. >> My belief was that all of the pianos strung there received the >> treatment described above and after the chipping and rough tuning were >> fine tuned that 25c sharp to allow for stretch while they were >> warehoused. They were then sealed in the plastic which also sealed the >> humid air of the Japanese islands in with the piano allowing it to >> remain sharp until opened. >> I would "floor tune" them until sold and found that although they >> needed the requisete 3 or 4 tunings in the first year it wasn't nearly >> as much as the american brands I had been used to. When I returned to >> tune them after 3 months they weren't all THAT out of tune compared to >> Baldwins, Wurlies, Kimballs etc. >> >> Mike >> -- >> Knowledge is realizing that the street is one-way, wisdom is looking >> both directions anyway. >> Michael Magness >> Magness Piano Service >> 608-786-4404 >> www.IFixPianos.com >> email mike at ifixpianos.com >>
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