<!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 6.00.2800.1264" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello Charles Cron</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Are you sure it wasn't made by =
Kemble-Yamaha here
in the UK? That could account for a lot...;-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michael G (UK)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=Piannerman@aol.com =
href="mailto:Piannerman@aol.com">Piannerman@aol.com</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 23, 2003 2:33 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Gray market Yamahas</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face=Arial =
size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF">Salutations to all,<BR> In =
an Asian
person's home the other day and tuned a U1. Nice piano but for =
some reason
the tone quality just didn't seem as nice as what I am accustomed =
to. The
serial number was higher than the latest one (1996) listed in the Pierce =
Atlas
and the couple had purchased it from another individual within the last =
year or
so. So I was idly wondering if the piano could be a "gray market" =
when I
noticed it - "<B>Made in Japan</B>" stenciled on the plate.
Aha!! Definitely a "gray market piano".<BR><BR> =
I didn't
say anything to the customer but came home to my own U1, purchased about =
6 years
ago from a Yamaha dealer, smugly confident that my piano was a bonafide, =
Made in
America Yamaha. Lifted up the lid and there it was - "<B>Made in
Japan</B>", right on the plate. I could have croaked. Does =
this mean
that I have a "gray market piano?" Surely there must be a way to =
tell by
looking. Do all Yamahas say "<B>Made in Japan</B>", even the ones =
that are
made over here?<BR><BR> Please advise as I have =
an
inquiring mind and would really appreciate some insight on this burning
question. (Sorry if this has been covered in depth =
previously.)<BR>Charles
Cron<BR>Rockfield, KY</FONT> </FONT></BODY></HTML>