<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1141" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Hi Wim,</DIV> <DIV>What part can't you get for a 5 year old Japanese piano?</DIV> <DIV>Just wondering.</DIV> <DIV>Regards,</DIV> <DIV>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE 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=Wimblees@aol.com href="mailto:Wimblees@aol.com">Wimblees@aol.com</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 21, 2003 2:21 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: What is a Boston? <was Boston and Yamaha opinions wanted></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">In a message dated 2/21/03 11:10:47 AM Central Standard Time, <A href="mailto:rrg@unlv.edu">rrg@unlv.edu</A> writes:<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" TYPE="CITE">On the flip side however the REAL competitors are the ones who continue to develop their product.  Kawai doesn't make the KG-2 anymore.  Yamaha doesn't make the G-3 anymore.  They realized that the time for these pianos had come and gone and it was time to move on.</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT><FONT lang=0 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR>TV's and cars only last 5 - 10 years. If a10 year old TV or car breaks down, it is probably time to buy a new one any way. But pianos are supposed to last 50 - 75 years. One of my complaints about the Japanese pianos is that even after 5 years, it is sometimes difficult to get parts for them. It's one thing to improve on the product. But why do they have to redesign the piano entirely, and stop making a certain model? <BR><BR>The flip side is that I can get parts for 100 year old Steinways. My concern is if I will be able to get Boston parts 50 years from now. (Well, not me personally, but you know what I mean.) <BR><BR>Wim </FONT></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>