[pianotech] Seasoned Wood

[Ron Nossaman]

William Monroe wrote:
> I think the point to be taken home is that though Yamaha dries the wood 
> in three different ways, it is a false premise to suggest that one 
> particular level of drying will suit the dramatic climatic extremes 
> found in North America.  North America has desert climates (consistently 
> very low RH levels), tropical climates (consistently very high RH 
> levels), and temperate climates in which the RH fluctuates wildly from 
> very highs to very lows.  In the end, though Yamaha "seasons 
> specifically" the process does us essentially no good here in North America.

I think it does do us some good here. It puts the "season for" 
range in the middle of the range instead of at the wet end. 
Also, there's a difference between a new piano seasoned for 
North America, and a 20 year old anything. From a tech's 
perspective, gray market for wet climates does well enough 
here in humid areas of the country. In areas where they are 
dried extensively by unhumidified heating systems, they don't. 
I've seen too many of them here fall apart to think they're a 
good deal. Dealers who sell them, wherever they are, tend to 
claim the "seasoning" is a marketing myth, and the pianos are 
just fine. I don't know how they handle complaints when a rib 
drops off.


> I see more reason to accept Yamaha US's argument against Grey market as 
> one of cost and supporting a product that was retailed in another 
> country - which should be supporting that product.  That at least has 
> some "business sense" to it (whatever that is  ;-]).

Yes it does, as does the fact that those gray market pianos 
that do fall apart make Yamaha look bad through no fault of 
their own. To support them would be to accept responsibility 
for them.
Ron N