[CAUT] Yamaha sharps

[Michael Magness]

On Dec 13, 2007 6:10 PM, Alan Crane <alan.crane at wichita.edu> wrote:

> At 08:53 AM 12/13/2007, you wrote:
> >  Yesterday I had an unfortunate experience cleaning keytops. Yamaha
> >C-2 about 20 years old. ... a very thin clear finish on the sharps -
> >blistered so as to look somewhat
> >white.
>
> Fred,
>
> This is probably way off-the-wall but...
> In the mid-80s, about 20 years ago, I was working for the local
> Yamaha dealer (actually on staff there).
> Yamaha had just recently come out with their "Ivorite" keytops
> ________ wonderful feel to the plastic, supposedly a milk-based
> formulation (at least that was the hype at the time).
> But it wasn't too long before they began having problems with the
> Ivorite keytops getting dirty and being impossible to clean.
> It was a real problem for them and they even had technicians going
> around the country replacing entire key sets under warranty with the
> same problem cropping up again and again until... they discovered
> that the Ivorite wasn't getting any more dirty than normal plastic
> keytops do and it was cleaning up just fine.
> The stuff that wasn't coming off the keytops (that everyone had
> thought was dirt) was the stain from the black keys, a new
> formulation which evidently wasn't as stable as it was supposed to be
> and was being transferred to the Ivorite by the pianists fingers
> and/or the cleaning cloth.
> We were told that Yamaha immediately fixed the stain formulation and
> I never doubted it since the problem went away.
> However... I'm wondering if it isn't possible that, prior to finding
> the "right" stain formulation, the factory didn't start spraying on a
> clear-coat sealer in an effort to keep the problem stain on the
> sharps where it belonged.
> Now, this is all just daydreaming on my part and I have no evidence,
> anecdotal or otherwise, to support it.
> Its almost certainly not what you're dealing with... but... OTOH, the
> stain problem was very real while it lasted... and the time frame is
> about right...
> Just a thought.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Alan B. Crane,  RPT
> School of Music
> Wichita State University
> alan.crane at wichita.edu
>
>
Hi Fred,

I'm not sure what caused your problem but I am fairly certain it wasn't
anything to do with Alan C.
's rumor about a "coating" on Yamaha keys because they bleed their finish
and that was the reason for the replacement of all of those
natural keytops by Yamaha. I have replace 2 sets and am about to replace a
3rd and haven't heard anything about doing anything with the sharps. On a C3
from '86 a C5 from '84 and my current a C7 from '87.
My guess would be someone put something on them prior to you working on it
and you discovered it with the key cleaner/polish.
Mike
-- 
People who say it can't be done, should not interrupt those of us who are
doing it.
Michael Magness
Magness Piano Service
608-786-4404
www.IFixPianos.com
email mike at ifixpianos.com
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