Should he buy the Young Chang?

[Tvak@AOL.COM]

At 08:07 AM 3/12/01 EST, I wrote:
>Advise your client that should he ever need to sell his Young Chang, it will 
>be worth much less than the equally priced Kawai or Yamaha.  
>

In a message dated 3/13/01 12:29:06 AM, drose@dlcwest.com writes:
<< What do you base this opinion on? I am no fan of small pianos of any 
maker.>>

I once owned a YC 6'grand.  It was my first piano after I graduated college.  
It served me well for 10 years.  (This all happened in a previous life spent 
as a musician.)  Finally I became disenchanted with the tone of the 
instrument and decided to sell it.   It took 6 months to sell and I 
eventually sold it for much less than I had hoped to sell it for.  Most 
consumers have never heard of a "Young Chang".  It's a buyer's market and 
unless the price is right, I think most laymen will purchase a name they 
recognize.  Yamaha certainly has name recognition on the street, and Kawai to 
a lesser degree.  So my opinion is not based on the quality of the 
instrument, but rather its marketability to the average man.  

I now work as a floor tuner at a piano dealer who sells Bluthners and 
Petrofs.  Last week the salesman was not on the floor so I ended up talking 
to a customer who told me with obvious disdain, he "had never heard of a 
Bluthner or Petrof" and wanted to know if we carried any other brands of 
piano.  This guy would be happier buying a Wurlitzer because he has heard the 
name before.  

Tom S.