grey market pianos

[Cameron Jacobi]

--- Carol Beigel <carolrpt@hotmail.com> wrote:
> 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 >
> 
>
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Forgive my ignorance, but what someone please tell me
what a grey market piano is?  Is it a piano made by
no-one-knows-who, in a factory in no-one knows-where,
who illegally put Yamaha's name on the instrument?  
> 


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