about Yamaha's

[antares]

>Tony Court BSc(Hons) NAMIR wrote :


>With the Yamaha instruments the quality control
> was so good that each instrument of a particular model was as good as
> identical, and of a high standard of production and regulation ( done by
> japanese technicians in germany before they came across the Channel).



Hi Tony,
I happen to be a Yamaha tech in the Netherlands and I have often been at
Yamaha Europe in Hamburg.
There are Japanese there, but they are mainly oversee-ers and managers /
administrators.

These last years all Yamaha's coming from Hamburg have been serviced by
German techs only who have never had training in Japan.


>We are
> also now subject to gray imports along with every one else........these vary
> greatly in quality of tone and regulation.......often blamed on the Japanese
> climate ( we are very temparate here.... exept where central heating rules),
> but good ones are to be had for the discerning.

As most of us know, they have different climate halls in Hamamatsu. It is
understandable that a Yamaha, conditioned for Saudi Arabia etc is not fit
for Indonesia, that's the trouble with these gray import guys.
Most of them have suffered immensely from the harsh Japanese climate, so by
the time they found their new place in another part of the world, the
varnish is usually craquelé, the bridle straps are often on the verge of
breaking, all metal parts are rusted and soundboards easily crack open next
to the central heating.


> Yes age is a factor.....It's better here to have japanese built.....these
> are from the late eighties at the latest.
> One of the last consoles......these were cheaper to start with.....the
> serial No will be on the piano and Pierce piano atlas will tell the
> rest........It may be that all Yamahas in US are still built in
> Japan.......in which case it won't be one of the last!
> Regards
> Tony Court BSc(Hons) NAMIR
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Clyde Hollinger <cedel@supernet.com>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Monday, June 11, 2001 6:39 PM
> Subject: Is age a factor?

Right now there are several upright factories in for instance the US,
England, China (Pearl river sounding objects) and Indonesia. All this to
avoid import taxes and expensive labor.
Grand pianos and some upright models  are (as far as I know) still
'Nippon Gakki'.


Antares,

Amsterdam, Holland