[pianotech] Grey Market Yamaha/Kawai

[Paul McCloud]

Hi, Jim:
I'm in San Diego.  The store I used to work for sold these at various times over the years.  Since we are on the coast, where humidity rarely goes below 40%, structural failure didn't become a problem in the ones I've seen.  But, quite a few had borderline tuning pin torque.  I used to think the concern of failure was a bunch of hooey, but after hearing from techs who live in other parts of the country, and the failures they've seen, there's no argument.  Also, not all importer/rebuilders are the same.  We had some that I heard had been "rebuilt" in Vietnam, where the strings had been removed, cleaned, and then replaced.  The tuning pins were loose, and using CA didn't help.  In a word, they were junk.  We had some imported by a company in Florida (name withheld) that were very good, but it's hard to judge a piano from 3000 miles away.  Some of the latest models for sale (from '90's and newer) probably would hold up here in SD, but most of these are '70's era.  Exhuming comes to mind.  If you can inspect them before purchase, and if you live in a damp climate, it's a safer bet.  But still a bet, and never mind getting parts, though action parts can be had if you have a serial number from the American model of the same type.
YMMV.
Paul McCloud
San Diego

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Ialeggio" <jim at grandpianosolutions.com>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2012 6:16:25 AM
Subject: [pianotech] Grey Market Yamaha/Kawai

The Grey Market is new to me...it is a price point that reflects some of 
my current client's attitude towards spending money, even though some of 
them have plenty of bucks they are sitting on.

I Did some research last night on what grey market means, and I must 
say, that the info that seems the most credible,  matches my original 
gut instinct.  That is, with the exception of the very first yamaha 
introductions to the US in the early 70's, that the line about RH levels 
at the fabrication being inappropriate to RH levels in this country 
(wherever in this country's wildly varying climate you mean) is more 
about protecting piano sales for new dealers (and of course the 
manufacturer) rather than a degrading functionality issue.

This especially as all manufacturers worldwide, including Kawai, (with 
the exception Yamaha I think) only run one RH level at their plants 
manufacturing for worldwide distribution.  RH control is an end user's 
concern, to dealt with as you would a new US made or anywhere made 
instrument.

So, my question for those of you who have been around here longer than 
I, and have seen more of the "in-the-field" track record on these pianos 
is, particularly in the Northeast, but not exclusively, what is your 
experience about the actual functionality of these post 1970's grey 
market yamaha/kawais. Do the RH concerns create function issues beyond 
normal in service RH effects we would expect to see in any piano, or is 
it mostly or all manufacturer/ new piano sales inspired fear mongering.

Jim Ialeggio

-- 
Jim Ialeggio	
jim at grandpianosolutions.com
978 425-9026
Shirley Center, MA