Disklavier

I wouldn't dissagree with any of this.

Buying a used instrument can definitely be worthwhile
but it is certainly NOT the NO Brainer that most
people think it is!

Ed Spillane

--- Carol Beigel <carolrpt@...> wrote:
> I know my opinions may seem a little crusty at times
> when it comes to buying 
> used Disklaviers and/or used pianos in general, but
> after 23 years of 
> dealing with the tears and unmet expectations of
> purchasers trying to save a 
> little money, I would like to say a few things.
> 
> 1.	If possible, go in person to play and hear the
> piano before you buy it.  
> Not all pianos play and sound alike.  Basically,
> what you hear and see is 
> what you get.  If you don\ufffdt like the tuning or
> voicing, and these things 
> cannot be adjusted on the spot as you watch to your
> liking, chances are the 
> situation won\ufffdt be much better in your living room. 
> If you decide to buy 
> the instrument, get the serial number on the
> purchase agreement.
> 
> 2.	If you are buying the piano from a distant
> vendor, and cannot evaluate it 
> yourself, hire a Registered Piano Technician to
> check it out first.  Not all 
> piano technicians are familiar with Disklaviers, so
> talk about this first.  
> You can get a list of Registered Piano Technicians
> from www.ptg.org or call 
> Yamaha at 1-800-854-1569 to recommend someone in
> your area.  Have the 
> technician supply you with the serial number.
> 
> 3.	Make sure you know exactly what features you are
> getting.  You can always 
> post to this website and get an answer as to what
> the various models 
> include.  Basically it comes down to how much you
> want to mess around trying 
> to do what you want to do.  The oldest and most
> basic Disklaviers will play 
> the piano from floppy disks you buy from Yamaha and
> will play standard MIDI 
> files from an attached computer.  Everything else is
> optional or is included 
> in a succesion of upgraded models.  Extra features
> include whether or not 
> the DKV will play standard MIDI files from the
> floppy disk drive, what kinds 
> of floppy disks are useable, incremental pedaling,
> upgradeable flash rom, a 
> tone generator for Ensemble sounds, speakers,
> headphones, Silent System, 
> Smart Key and Piano Smart, a stereo audio system,
> and a CD player.
> 
> 4.	Make sure you are buying a piano constructed for
> the part of the world 
> you will be using it in; i.e. avoid purchasing a
> Gray Market piano.  If you 
> live in North America, you don\ufffdt want a piano
> designed soley for an Asian 
> climate.  Most homes in North America have a forced
> air heating system so 
> the relative humidity can get as low as 10%rh in the
> winter. If the piano 
> was contructed from wood with 12% moisture content,
> instead of a 5% moisture 
> content there is a risk of the piano changing
> radical dimensions during 
> seasonal changes.  This can result in the finish
> cracking and falling off 
> the cabinet, the soundboard flattening during the
> dry season, the pinblock 
> not holding the tuning pins tight enough to hold a
> tuning, and the piano 
> action being plagued by intermittent sticking keys. 
> The electronics may 
> also not be UL approved, so no vendor in their right
> mind will risk a 
> product liability lawsuit to sell you replacement
> parts.
> 
> 5.	Remember that the lowest price is not always the
> best value.  Buying an 
> instrument from a local vendor not only puts your
> sales taxes to work in 
> your own community, but gives someone else in your
> locality a vested 
> interest in your satisfaction.  It is certainly
> easier for a vendor to sell 
> a piano (sometimes still in its original packing
> crate) far, far away if it 
> fell off the fork lift than to be responsible for
> its performance locally!  
> Moving companies, or their agents, are also a source
> of \ufffdgood deals\ufffd.  Many 
> times a long-distance moving company will claim to
> have expertise moving 
> pianos only to send out an inexperienced crew. 
> Pianos are dropped on steps 
> all the time and a good polyester touch-up man can
> hide such damage well.
> 
> 6.	How many of you are still using your IBM 8088
> computers \ufffd you know, the 
> ones with 64k ram?  Before CD players were invented?
>  1987 does not sound 
> like a very long time in the past, but in the world
> of electronics it is 
> ancient history.  Neither pianos, nor the disk
> drives on Disklaviers, will 
> last forever.  You should factor in the cost or
> repairs when buying an older 
> model.  A new floppy drive will cost at least $300,
> and the retail price of 
> the DSR1 upgrade (tone generator, plays all standard
> MIDI files on both HD 
> and DD disks, memory) is $1295.  The cost of the CD
> player is $1295 and it 
> still does not do PianoSmart.  And those are just
> for starters.
> 
> 7.	Perhaps it is helpful to think of buying a
> piano/Disklavier in the same 
> terms as buying a car.  They cost about the same
> amount of money.  Cars all 
> have 4 tires, brakes and steering, and an engine,
> and they don\ufffdt last 
> forever. But there is an incredible range of 
> options available.  Buying a 
> used Disklavier can be like buying a Mercedes with 
> 150,000 miles on it.  
> Buyer Beware.
> 
> 
> Carol Beigel
> crbrpt@...
> 
> 
> 
> 
>
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