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.
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