<HTML>In a message dated 3/3/2003 9:35:13 AM Eastern Standar= d Time, kpiano@goldrush.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT= : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">I have to disagree. Yamaha has = no way of protecting the consumer from dealers that sell their piano in a climate that they fall apart.</BLOCKQUOTE= > Would someone explain to me why Yamaha is apparently building inferior piano= s and then admitting it? There are two pianos from Japan, and the other one = says they build their pianos for a world market - in other words, they don't= "season" pianos differently depending on where they're going. In fact, they= make a big deal out of this fact in their literature, and on their website.= In my opinion, Yamaha is admitting that their piano is inferior to Kawai, s= ince there is no discussion about Kawai pianos "falling apart" if they end u= p "somewhere they aren't supposed to". After that, I'd like to know just how= it is that you "season" particleboard. I agree with them however - the Kawa= i is a better piano in my opinion. I don't buy into this story. Do some pianos end up not doing well in drier c= limates? Yes. But I don't think it has a thing to do with how a piano is "se= asoned" at the factory. I think any "seasoning" done happens over time durin= g its life. You can move a Baldwin that spent 20 years in Florida to Arizona= and it won't like it either. This opinion seems to be shared in the Piano B= ook as well. There was no trend found at all of these "gray market" pianos h= aving a higher rate of problems than any other pianos. There is no such thing as "gray market pianos". There are just pianos that Y= amaha gets to make money on, and pianos they don't get to make money on. Eac= h piano should be judged on its own merit, and things done to compensate for= the shift in environments the piano is asked to live in. If the piano ends = up in an area where the humidity is very low, a Damppchaser system should be= installed to help the piano. But I do not believe the pianos are "falling a= part" because of some secret "seasoning" process. I do believe that Yamaha i= s losing sales of new pianos to them however, and have taken a grain of trut= h from back in the 50s and 60s and used it to try to cut their losses. = Curing wood is no big secret, so if they are really doing this, I see no re= ason they can't explain just how they do it. Larry Fletcher Atlanta Chapter</HTML>