Yamaha Quits Schaff

[Bill Ballard]

At 12:26 PM -0500 10/24/01, John M. Formsma wrote:
>Before we all get out of sorts, is this confirmed and what is the source(s)?

Danielle at Schaff. Two weeks ago I called to order a set of Yamaha 
C7E damper felts. She said that although Schaff could still order 
these pre-made sets, Yamaha was phasing out their supplier/vendor 
relationship with Schaff, and by the end of November, would no longer 
be making their tools and supplies available through Schaff. The 
clear implication in the conversation was that Yamaha parts and 
materials would only be supplied by Yamaha, and only where a bona 
fide (ie., export-to-the-US) serial number could be given.

As of Monday (10/22), they weren't even adding any new back orders 
and Shaff's inventory of Yamaha brand items was disappearing fast. 
Yes I was able to make up a set of damper felts for this 1971 
Japanese domestic C7, from their remaining supplies of C7-size damper 
strips.

At 8:18 AM -0700 10/24/01, Donald Mannino wrote:
>Keep in mind that most of the "Yamaha" tools sold by Schaff  were 
>actually made by Itoshin, a piano supply  / tool company in Japan. 
>It shouldn't be hard for Schaff to continue to supply those tools.

The lady didn't mention Itoshin by name, but she did say it was still 
up in the air as to which of the "Yamaha brand" tools this company 
would supply. She had a good idea which ones were not likely to be 
continued by "this company".

At 6:30 AM -0700 10/24/01, DALE ERWIN wrote:
>Try the Tokiwa  pre-cut dampersets from Pacific/Brooks to replace 
>the loss of Yamaha parts.

These are very good felts. The flats for the most part don't oink, 
but I did run into some difficulty with the plain tri-chord wedges on 
a M&H AA whose gaps between strings on a note were a little wider 
than the size of these Tokiwa wedges. I'm going to miss the vertical 
felts the most (the U1 and U3 sets).

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"I'll play it and tell you what it is later...."
     ...........Miles Davis
+++++++++++++++++++++