Disklavier

I am looking to buy a used Yamaha C3 piano with DiskLavier.  It was
built back in 1991.  I am struggling to find the diferent electronic
components and their respective models over the years.  How do I know
what features it has? How upgradeable is it?  Is it even worth
anything over and above the value of the instrument alone.  Could I
"Slap" a Mark III unti in its place, and be automatically "up to date."

Can anyone help?  A reference of all of the different models and
accompanying details would be great!  Any such luck?  jb

Message
JB,

If the piano was built in 1991, it probably has a wagon control unit.  The Wagon unit (possibly a DKW10) cannot be replaced.  It can be added to, however.  The wagon provides the central processing as well as the power supply and MIDI capabilities and there isn't anything to replace it with.

Some people have added a DSR1 with a DCD1 which will give you XG and PianoSmart capabilities.  The wagon is setup as a slave with the DSR1 as the master.  You no longer have to record on the wagon since, the DSR1 has it's own floppy disk drive.  You can also add some self powered speakers and hide the wagon.  With these additions, the piano would be functionally equivalent to a Mark II with CD capabilities. 

I'm pretty certain this piano can't be upgraded to have the Silent feature of the Mark III models without considerable cost.  The silent rail isn't just an add-on - it has to be installed in the action to keep the hammers from striking the strings and to ensure proper let-off.  

I am not aware of any comprehensive list of the various years with all the different models.  The closest I could find was this on Carol Beigel's excellent web-site:

http://www.carolrpt.com/DiskFileChart.pdf

The PDF file above has a chart showing which control unit came with which Disklavier Model.   

Good luck.

Ken Gorman

  -----Original Message-----
From: br1dge71   [mailto:br1dge71@...] 
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004   10:51 AM
To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
Subject:   [disklavier] Different DL Models? Mark I, II, II, and now Mark   IV?


I am looking to buy a used Yamaha C3 piano with   DiskLavier.  It was
built back in 1991.  I am struggling to find   the diferent electronic
components and their respective models over the   years.  How do I know
what features it has? How upgradeable is   it?  Is it even worth
anything over and above the value of the   instrument alone.  Could I
"Slap" a Mark III unti in its place, and be   automatically "up to date."

Can anyone help?  A reference of all   of the different models and
accompanying details would be great!  Any   such luck?  jb


		
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Ken - much appreciated reply.  I confirmed it IS a Wagon unit.  Talked
to Yamaha and confirmed the capabilities and limitations.. Thank you
very much.. jeff


--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, Ken Gorman <KenGorman@y...> wrote:
> Message
> JB,
> 
> If the piano was built in 1991, it probably has a wagon control
unit.  The Wagon unit (possibly a DKW10) cannot be replaced.  It can
be added to, however.  The wagon provides the central processing as
well as the power supply and MIDI capabilities and there isn't
anything to replace it with.
> 
> Some people have added a DSR1 with a DCD1 which will give you XG and
PianoSmart capabilities.  The wagon is setup as a slave with the DSR1
as the master.  You no longer have to record on the wagon since, the
DSR1 has it's own floppy disk drive.  You can also add some self
powered speakers and hide the wagon.  With these additions, the piano
would be functionally equivalent to a Mark II with CD capabilities. 
> 
> I'm pretty certain this piano can't be upgraded to have the Silent
feature of the Mark III models without considerable cost.  The silent
rail isn't just an add-on - it has to be installed in the action to
keep the hammers from striking the strings and to ensure proper let-off.  
> 
> I am not aware of any comprehensive list of the various years with
all the different models.  The closest I could find was this on Carol
Beigel's excellent web-site:
> 
> http://www.carolrpt.com/DiskFileChart.pdf
> 
> The PDF file above has a chart showing which control unit came with
which Disklavier Model.   
> 
> Good luck.
> 
> Ken Gorman
> 
>   
>   -----Original Message-----
> From: br1dge71   [mailto:br1dge71@y...] 
> Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004   10:51 AM
> To: disklavier@yahoogroups.com
> Subject:   [disklavier] Different DL Models? Mark I, II, II, and now
Mark   IV?
> 
> 
> I am looking to buy a used Yamaha C3 piano with   DiskLavier.  It was
> built back in 1991.  I am struggling to find   the diferent electronic
> components and their respective models over the   years.  How do I know
> what features it has? How upgradeable is   it?  Is it even worth
> anything over and above the value of the   instrument alone.  Could I
> "Slap" a Mark III unti in its place, and be   automatically "up to
date."

> 
> Can anyone help?  A reference of all   of the different models and
> accompanying details would be great!  Any   such luck?  jb
> 
> 
> 		
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.

Please let me know.

Thank You,
Eric

Hi there everyone. Due to us inheriting a fifty year old Steinway Grand from
my mother-in-law, it looks like we are going to have to put our almost brand
new Yamaha GranTouch DGT7A up for sale. Yes, I have very mixed emotions
about this, but hey, one of them has to go. Either that or we need to buy a
new house with more square feet.

However, in putting together information on the piano for prospective
purchasers, I have not been able to determine where the piano's serial
number is located. Is it under the cover? Do I need to unscrew the cover? Or
is it hiding up underneath the piano somewhere?

Thank you.

-Holly Hegeman

For what it's worth Holly, I understand your dilemma - but I feel that you are making the right choice.
One of those items is replaceable, the other is not.

kindest regards
Lozzy

I think the serial number is somewhere underneath the
piano.  As I recall, it is pretty hard to find.  It is
also possible to have a MIDI player installed in your
Steinway.  Both QRS and PianoDisc make a fine system
that will play all your MIDI files.  I am sort of
partial to the QRS Chili system because it supposedly
plays MIDI files that you have burned to a  CD
yourself.  Depending upon where you live, I recommend
sending the piano to Seneca, Pennsylvania to have a
factory installed system.  You can also buy a "record
rail" so the piano will also record and playback, but
no other brand works as well as the Disklavier for
recording.

Carol Beigel

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "holly hegeman" <hhegeman@...>
To: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2004 1:56 PM
Subject: [disklavier] Location of serial number on
DGT7A GranTouch


> Hi there everyone. Due to us inheriting a fifty year
old Steinway Grand from
> my mother-in-law, it looks like we are going to have
to put our almost brand
> new Yamaha GranTouch DGT7A up for sale. Yes, I have
very mixed emotions
> about this, but hey, one of them has to go. Either
that or we need to buy a
> new house with more square feet.
>
> However, in putting together information on the piano
for prospective
> purchasers, I have not been able to determine where
the piano's serial
> number is located. Is it under the cover? Do I need
to unscrew the cover? Or
> is it hiding up underneath the piano somewhere?
>
> Thank you.
>
> -Holly Hegeman
>
>
>
> To Post a message to the group, send it to:
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>
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>
> Todd's family web site was completely updated
012/22/03.  It contains some fun disklavier content and
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>

> I think the serial number is somewhere underneath the
> piano.  As I recall, it is pretty hard to find.  It is
> also possible to have a MIDI player installed in your
> Steinway.  Both QRS and PianoDisc make a fine system
> that will play all your MIDI files.  I am sort of
> partial to the QRS Chili system because it supposedly
> plays MIDI files that you have burned to a  CD
> yourself.  Depending upon where you live, I recommend
> sending the piano to Seneca, Pennsylvania to have a
> factory installed system.  You can also buy a "record
> rail" so the piano will also record and playback, but
> no other brand works as well as the Disklavier for
> recording.
> 
> Carol Beigel

Thanks Carol. I was not aware of that aspect of the QRS system! I have lots
of midis recorded on CDs, so that would be great.

Thank you!

-Holly

Carol Beigel wrote:

> > Both QRS and PianoDisc make a fine system
> > that will play all your MIDI files.  I am sort of
> > partial to the QRS Chili system because it supposedly
> > plays MIDI files that you have burned to a  CD
> > yourself.

Holly Hegeman wrote:

> Thanks Carol. I was not aware of that aspect of the QRS system! I have
> lots of midis recorded on CDs, so that would be great.


Holly, I'd strongly recommend choosing the QRS Serenade Pro controller
over their "Chili" controller. The Serenade Pro was developed for
Baldwin, who sells a rebranded Pianomation system as the "Baldwin
ConcertMaster" system. Baldwin was pickier about the features,
reliability and usability of the controller, and it shows.

The Serenade Pro will play MIDI files burned to the root directory of a
data CDROM and also includes a nifty wireless remote with LCD display
showing the title of the current song. The remote uses RF (radio)
technology and will work from any room in your house (no need to aim it
at the piano).

My understanding is that the QRS "Chili" controller CANNOT play MIDI
files from a data CDROM. It could be that this has been corrected in a
later firmware release, though.

Both the Chili and Serenade Pro controllers can play audio CDROMs
encoded with "analog MIDI" (an audio CD with a MIDI file converted into
a special control signal on one of the channels). Free software to
encode MIDI files into this QRS CD format is here:
http://dp70.dyndns.org/mid2pianocd/

Mark Fontana

--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, holly hegeman <hhegeman@p...> 
wrote:
> Hi there everyone. Due to us inheriting a fifty year old Steinway 
Grand from
> my mother-in-law, it looks like we are going to have to put our 
almost brand
> new Yamaha GranTouch DGT7A up for sale. Yes, I have very mixed 
emotions
> about this, but hey, one of them has to go. Either that or we need 
to buy a
> new house with more square feet.
> 
> However, in putting together information on the piano for 
prospective
> purchasers, I have not been able to determine where the piano's 
serial
> number is located. Is it under the cover? Do I need to unscrew the 
cover? Or

> is it hiding up underneath the piano somewhere?
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> -Holly Hegeman

Sorry, my previous was an empty message.

Try:
http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/Text_WithCatMenu_XC
/0,6380,CNTID%253D12173%2526CTID%253D410015,00.html


It is a long link, so if it appears in 2 lines, join them before 
copying it to the address bar of your explorer, There should be no 
spaces in it.

It shows were to look for the serial number and explains where and 
when the DKV was manufactured.