Old Chestnut "Bootleg Pianos"

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 2/25/00 1:31:37 PM !!!First Boot!!!, 
pianotun@globalfreeway.com.au writes:

<< In Australia  we are being bombarded with these reject Pianos from Japan
 which is causing no end of problems for the Tuners & consumers.....(snip) My 
question is how do we identify these Pianos  >>

First of all, as much as I don't like these pianos either, they should not be 
considered "bootleg" pianos. These piano were legitimately bought in Japan, 
and brought to the US or Australia through proper channels. What makes this 
practice seem shady, is that, as you mentioned, the piano dealers are 
concocting all sorts of stories to get customers to buy them.

One tell tale sign, at least in the US, is that pianos from Japan have 2 
pedals. Other than that, I would venture to guess that as in most cases in 
the US, these pianos are not very clean and completely out of regulation. The 
pianos are bought "as is" and are sold the same way. The dealers selling 
these things probably don't have qualified technicians to do anything to 
these pianos. Hence, the dealers are making up stories as to why the pianos 
are in such horrible shape. 

Unfortunately there is nothing we, as technicians, can do to stop this 
practice. As I said, there is nothing illegal going on. All we can do is hope 
that customers pay you to appraise the pianos before they buy them, instead 
of paying us to fix them after they has been set up in their homes. 

Willem Blees