[CAUT] Yamaha Exchange program; pros, cons

Jerry Groot tunerboy3 at comcast.net
Fri Jun 8 06:02:19 MDT 2012


P22's are fine.  I tune a lot of them.  They hold up well, hold tuning well,
-better than some anyway, but, expect the typical mechanical problems with
almost any new piano.  I do not care for the GH1 series at all.  To dinky.
They don't hold up as well tuning wise as well as the larger grand's do.
Mechanically, as soon as our first one arrived, I had regulation issues and
the usually sticking keys.  These were some of the 26 pianos that we bought.
We bought 10 or 12 Yamaha's.  P22's, and the U series a couple of grand's.
Love all but the GH1's.    

 

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of James
Schmitt
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 11:16 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Yamaha Exchange program; pros, cons

 

Yes, check the hold down nuts on the action.  Sometimes they do not fit the
hold down bolts right.

James Schmitt

On Jun 7, 2012, at 6:20 PM, Shelley wrote:





Thanks to all for your comments.  Some of which we had thought of and some
of which we had not!

Our dealer has P22's to send right away.  What do you who have experience
with them think of them?
Which grands would you recommend?  Don't know if we can get any C5's.  I
have a few in my client list and generally love them!
We have plans to buy one of the loaners per year.

Shelley




On 6/7/12 3:20 PM, "Paul Williams" <pwilliams4 at unl.edu
<x-msg://401/pwilliams4@unl.edu> > wrote:




And you all know that "new" pianos will need lots of tuning, regulations,
voicing, etc..a bit more than the usual inventory, (unless you have old
junkers).  Tuning will take up a lot more time..then you get them squared
away and somewhat stable.  Then there they go sold off and start all over
again.  I don't think I would go for it.  I've seen it happen at some
community colleges back the Seattle area with similar programs with other
brands/dealers I used to deal with. 

Also; when it comes time for the annual "sale" of these instruments, the
piano dealer (from my experience) will set it up as a huge "tent" sale with
hundreds of their own stuffs they didn't sell that year or years before.
It's a big hassle!! Maybe Yamaha doesn't do that, but others do. Just be
careful, or state some solid ground rules before getting into it.

Good Luck!

Paul


From: Zeno Wood <zeno.wood at gmail.com <x-msg://401/zeno.wood@gmail.com> >
Reply-To: "caut at ptg.org <x-msg://401/caut@ptg.org> " <caut at ptg.org
<x-msg://401/caut@ptg.org> >
Date: Thursday, June 7, 2012 2:44 PM
To: "caut at ptg.org <x-msg://401/caut@ptg.org> " <caut at ptg.org
<x-msg://401/caut@ptg.org> >
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Yamaha Exchange program; pros, cons

Having all new pianos is nice, but the problem with everything being the
same age is that they'll all need replacing at the same time, creating a big
budget problem.  Unless of course you're putting something aside every year
just waiting for that day, but that's not the nature of any music
department.


On Thu, Jun 7, 2012 at 1:37 PM, Paul Milesi <paul at pmpiano.com
<x-msg://401/paul@pmpiano.com> > wrote:



I strongly agree with the point James Schmitt makes regarding dependency.
We, too, are involved in a Yamaha loan program that was put in place just
before I came on board.  I immediately saw the inclination to ignore
maintenance of our own inventory, which would ultimately be to our great
detriment and leave us without an escape route.  I pointed this out to
faculty and chair, and we began actively pursuing (meaning I am being
supported in) re-hammering, reconditioning, rebuilding, and routine
maintenance of our own, older inventory, such as it is.

Good thing, too, because our dealership was sold, the terms of our agreement
changed, and, yes, we lost literally 1/2 the loaner inventory in one fell
swoop at the end of Fall 2011 semester!  We were not quite as well
positioned as I would have liked, but at least attitudes towards working on
our own inventory were already adjusted and some work was underway.

BTW, I feel the same way about the All S&S thing, or any other
manufacturer's program.  How could a school ever afford to put enough of its
own (ignored) inventory in place after one of these agreements  has gone on
for 10 years or so?  Loaner programs can be a tremendous help in a pinch,
but dependency is a bad thing, IMHO.

On 6/7/12 11:42 AM, "James Schmitt" <pianotenor at comcast.net
<x-msg://401/pianotenor@comcast.net> > wrote:




I agree with Joe.  We had the Yamaha exchange program and things worked real
well for us when the profit share program with the local dealer was helping
our school get some new pianos but needed to be stopped when the flooring
fees for keeping the pianos at the school where not supported by  sales when
the economy went sideways.   The dealer is and was a good dealer but times
being what they are, kept the original deal from working.   The thing that I
find so hard about the piano exchange programs to start out with is that
they tend to leave the school dependent  on the program without a way out.
The deal we had allowed the school to purchase some pianos via a school
sales profit  share that payed the flooring fees but also made way for the
school to purchase pianos without using school funds. The goal was to work
our way out of the program with an ongoing way of upgrading as time went on.
When folks where buying pianos it worked real well. 
James Schmitt BM, RPT






On Jun 7, 2012, at 6:37 AM, Shelley wrote:




Hello All, 
I work at a small University where they are considering doing the Yamaha
piano exchange program.
I would greatly appreciate any pros and cons that you could offer.
Thanks,
Shelley

Shelley Byrd Anderson 
Registered Piano Technician
All Piano Services
Chicago, IL.  60645

 

 

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