Disklavier

Carol,
 
Thanks from a relative newcomer as well - it is clear you are not  personally 
gaining from your lengthy explanations, which makes your thoroughness  in 
explaining even more clear - that you are trying to get to the truth. Thanks  for 
looking after us!
 
I sold pianos twice in my life for a short time each - maybe a year. First  
was selling Yamaha pianos (and organs) around 1972 or so, and I believe Yamaha  
was relatively new in this country. I loved them, and did learn a little 
about  piano construction, which was to support helping customers see the value. 
At  that time Yamaha seemed to be an excellent buy in this country, and I was  
impresses that they had the Yamaha Music School for children, and I read about 
 their research on how music improves children's life in many ways. The  
impression I got was that this was a company that loved music and did everything  
to support that, including research on music and learning  music itself.
 
Later, around 1989, I sold again, with a non-Yamaha piano being the main  
"name" piano. This time I was trained by the head of the servicing  department 
who apparently was quite excellent, renowned on the east coast. I was  taught 
about various scales of pianos, the kiln drying wood, the quarter sawn  spruce, 
solid vs. laminated soundboards, the need for super hard wood in the pin  
block, the wood shrinkage problem, the fact that woods were seasoned for even  
different parts of the country.
 
I am only bringing this up as - we had no Yamahas at all! Yet this  
information was available for the other pianos........So when I hear this about  
Yamaha, I have no reason to believe it is just a Yamaha marketing scam! I think  
most of us as well have seen what happens to wood as moisture fluctuates.
 
Carol,  if you don't mind I have a question and if you he answered  this 
before maybe you can tell me what to search on......
 
After reading your specific explanation, I am thinking I should look  into 
some sort of humidity-control device, and I have heard from various sources  
that the products sold may not work well. My situation:
 
A new DU1A, and despite the comment from our Indonesian friend, I am not a  
"rich owner" who can run AC 24/7. I personally only run it when it is 
unbearable  as I cannot afford the electric bills which are extremely high here. I also 
 bought it after years of saving, a great sale, and a payment plan! ;-)
 
Last time I was tuned I noticed that the tuner wrote down 50% humidity at  
the top, I guess for his records. It was a fairly hot, humid day, and I did not  
have on the AC.
 
Since I only run it when I am terribly uncomfortable, like WAY over 90, and  
never when I am gone...and since in winter, I only heat the minimum, and 
mostly  upstairs where I am when I am home...
 
Can you recommend anything that will actually balance things out  inside the 
piano? Telling me to climate control my condo is impossible - I  simply cannot 
afford the high bills, which would be several hundrerd dollars  more a month 
than I now pay.
 
I did tell the sales person this before buying and I was told that Yamaha  
pianos are built so well that they will withstand these changes as long as  they 
are not placed in an area that actually gets damp. 
 
Thanks in advance for any help, and thanks for your ongoing support to this  
list!  

Blessings,
Wanda
 
p.s. a word for anyone asking a "worker on the floor" about the  company's 
practices.....I'd say that most floor workers are at the bottom of the  
information line.....and I'd guess if you go to an auto manufacturing plant and  ask 
about how the metal is mined, that you'd get answers that show little  
connection to the actual process. And anyone who believed that, from asking one  or a 
few of these workers that do not see the entire picture, would have a  pretty 
limited viewpoint. 
 
And if I grew up in a country where it never snowed, my knowledge of what  
extreme cold does would probably be lacking, and perhaps I'd laugh at the  
thought that a product had to be made differently to withstand the other  extreme. 
I'll bet cars for north Alaska have a different type of oil, different  type 
of battery, need to be plugged in overnight so as not to freeze......and ha  ha 
ha, isn't that just ridiculous (if I live near the equator!) (my brother  
lived there awhile and aside from photos of moose, in 4 foot of  snow, in the 
front yard, I heard about car  stuff)




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