<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:v = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16705" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE>@font-face { font-family: Cambria Math; } @font-face { font-family: Calibri; } @font-face { font-family: Tahoma; } @page Section1 {size: 8.5in 11.0in; margin: 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; } P.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif" } LI.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif" } DIV.MsoNormal { FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman","serif" } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } A:visited { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } SPAN.EmailStyle17 { COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-style-type: personal-reply } .MsoChpDefault { mso-style-type: export-only } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1 } </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY lang=EN-US vLink=purple link=blue bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My experience with these "two pedal" pianos has not been positive.  Mostly low torque on the pins after just two winters here in New England.  Our climate shifts are extreme.  A Dampp-chaser is always a good idea,  but after the damage is done?   </FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=hpp@highpointpiano.com href="mailto:hpp@highpointpiano.com">Garret Traylor</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">'Pianotech List'</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, September 12, 2008 9:38 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: "Seasoned For Destination"</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV class=Section1> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Patrick,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">I don’t think you will find a failure rate any higher or lower with different brands under the same circumstances (quality, age, overall, condition, environment).  If the piano were moved to Tokyo to Sapporo Japan, we would find the same issues.  <U>It’s the weather</U> (humidity and temperature) not the Market or Geography.  Go to Google Maps and zoom out to see the world and then research Hadley Cells in Wikipedia.  The answer: Dampp-Chaser curs a lot of ills.  Sorry your customer did not buy into the concept of saving their piano.  Of course a poor or misleading “Rebuild” is another issue too.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Kindest Regards,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Garret <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">---<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <DIV style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none"> <P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>J Patrick Draine<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, September 12, 2008 8:18 AM<BR><B>To:</B> Pianotech List<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: "Seasoned For Destination"<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal>Bruce,<o:p></o:p></P> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal>If indeed your environment is "very kind" you may not have much to worry about. <o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal>What do I see in Billerica, MA, about 25 miles inland? Soundboards that develop cracks during their first winter stateside. Very low pin torque.<o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal>One customer bought a Yamaha C5 that was rebuilt by one of the import outfits, in TN or KY I think. Pin torque was monstrous in July just after he bought it; bridges and soundboard developed cracks as soon as the heat came on in the Fall, and pinblock torque took a sudden dive.<o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal>These pianos were not outfitted with Dampp-Chaser systems, despite my warnings to the proud new owners.<o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal>Are some of the grey market pianos OK? Yes, but the failure rate is unacceptably high.<o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt">Patrick Draine<o:p></o:p></P> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal>On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 5:07 AM, Bruce Browning - The Piano Tuner <<A href="mailto:justpianos@our.net.au">justpianos@our.net.au</A>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></P> <P class=MsoNormal>David,<BR>With respect to the "grey market" pianos, people on this list keep saying<BR>"coming apart", or "falling apart". Where are the specifics, as in my 10 -<BR>12 years of servicing these in this country I have only seen minor<BR>problems which can easily be rectified, such as well worn key bushings,<BR>and the inevitable hammer butt loops (and aren't these problems common to<BR>locally supplied models as well?). Admittedly the environment I work in is<BR>very kind, but what should we be looking for? <o:p></o:p></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>