Disklavier

It may be true that pianos are not passed down to a younger generation in 
Japan, but that is not why Japanese made pianos made for the Asian market 
sound "flat" here in the United States.  First of all, good quality pianos 
are only meant to last for about 50 years - even Steinways!  Pianos are also 
mechanical machines and they wear out.  The cell structure of wood does not 
last forever; felt and leather wear out, but most of all, the soundboard 
looses it's tension as it flattens out with age.  The bridges get hairline 
cracks which prevents a tremondous amount of sound from reaching the 
soundboard.

The main reason, though, that pianos made for an Asian climate (and Europe 
also), do not do well in a typical American household (or church or school) 
has to do with the "curing" of the wood.  If wood is left alone for about 4 
years, it naturally dries out to about 12% moisture content.  This is okay 
for most of the world.  However, most American homes are well-heated with a 
typical humidity often less than 10% RH.  This means that wood dried to 12% 
moisture will dry out further, warping if you will, and change dimension.  
This will flatten pieces under tension and compression (soundboards); break 
glue joint, make round holes drilled in wood take on an oval shape so any 
metal pins will bind; make holes larger as the wood shrinks around the 
perimeter of circles, and as the wood shrivels, the finish may fall off, 
peel or crack.  For pianos, these symptoms manifest themselves as flat 
soundboards with no power, loose tuning pins so the piano does not hold a 
tuning during heating season months, and piano actions with sticking keys.

To cope with the major climate changes in the typical American home, pianos 
need to have the wood, especially the soundboards, dried to a moisture 
content of 5%.  This  kiln drying process is very expensive.  That is why 
pianos made for use in the United States cost much more.  That is also why 
"gray market" pianos often do poorly here.  Owners of such instuments must 
be very careful to keep the humidity around them constant and fairly high - 
50-65% RH.  However, by the time a gray market instrument makes its way to 
the US, the damage is already done and only gets worse.

I must also say, in my opinion, a Yamaha piano made for marketing in the 
United States, is the most stable piano I have ever serviced - both tuning 
and the feel of the piano action.  That is why I own one!


Carol Beigel
crbrpt@...


>From: "buffy@..." <buffy@...>
>Reply-To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
>To: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: Re: [disklavier] Newbie seeking silent disklavier upright
>Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 15:02:31 -0400
>
>MessageDid you know that pianos in Japan are not passed on to relatives,  
>they are destroyed once the first owner dies?  As a result,  the quality of 
>the piano is not as good.  I know because we have "dead" piano in our choir 
>room at church, and the pianist explain to us why it was such a bad 
>quality.
>

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