Ok, your point is what? It's a 1955 piano. How many 9 foot grands don't need $6,000 or more of work after 44years of use. Yeah, for $17k they were ripped off. But why does this disparage "gray-market" pianos? The dealer is at fault here! Japan is simply one source of used pianos. This church could have been just as easily ripped off with a worn out USA market Yamaha. My point is: junk is junk (regardless where it comes from). However, just because it was a "Japanese" market piano, doesn't mean that it was junk just because it came from the "gray-market". This piano is worn out and deserves a full scale restoration. Steinway model D's get the works around here after only 20 years of service, so what makes you think that a 44 year old Yamaha wouldn't need restoration as well? I'm trying to differentiate between old, (1950's, '60s, and '70s 2 pedal jobs) from the nearly new 3 pedal Yamaha "gray-market" used piano that is available today (one that may actually be a straight -A grade piano). I don't mind hearing about problems with old gray-market pianos. I find this information fascinating. However, try to put the source of the problem into proper perspective. Would a USA-market Yamaha 9 foot grand be that much better off after 44 years of hard use? Maybe, but don't you think that Yamaha has made a HUGE improvement in all of their products (USA market, and Japanese), since 1955? >From what I've heard, USA market Yamahas from this vintage were just as bad as the gray-market pianos. (Actually, were there even any true USA market Yamaha's from this vintage yet? If not then, all Yamaha's from this era were Japanese-market, so can you even call them "gray-market?") In the case of a 1955 vintage Yamaha concert grand, the problem does not appear to be limited to which market the piano was originally exported (US vs Japan). Cheers, Brian Henselman, RPT -----Original Message----- From: Wimblees@AOL.COM <Wimblees@AOL.COM> To: Pianotech@ptg.org <Pianotech@ptg.org> Date: Saturday, September 18, 1999 8:55 AM Subject: Gray Market Yamahas >Not to beat an old horse to death, but yesterday I had another run in with a >gray market Yamaha. This was a 1955 9 foot piano in a church. They church >bought it from an outfit in Louisiana for $17,000. The only good thing about >it was the ivory keytops. The hammers were flat, and they had sprayed gold >over the pin area, so the pins were corroded, and starting to slip. The trap >work was also falling apart. > >In our discussions about these instruments, besides the fact that some of >them are falling apart, one of the other drawbacks is that the dealers >selling these things do not want to, or don't have the ability to, prepare >these instruments. As I said, the hammers on this one were flat, which caused >a lot of strings to break, and there was virtually no sound coming out of the >piano. Of course this church thought they were getting a bargain. The >minister was not too happy when I told him it will cost another $6000 to make >it right. > >Willem Blees > >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC