The Piano Book/graymarket pianos
2007-09-01 by Carol Beigel
I recommend to all who want to know about pianos, The Piano Book - Buying & Owning a New or Used Piano, by Larry Fine. There is probably a copy in your local library or you can buy it on Amazon.com. The book is updated every few years and can explain a lot about construction and parts in pianos. Also, when talking about gray market pianos, we are talking about older, very used pianos; not new ones. There are no brand new gray market disklaviers. Over the years these pianos have come from different factories, were of different designs, used different parts, and sometimes the model number did not change, but the piano did - drastically. The U1 upright is a good example. When talking about soldered boards in some gray market disklaivers, I did not mean to imply that all connections were soldered. The ones you can clearly see have connectors, it's just the ones buried behind the display boards that I have seen soldered. Part numbers change quite often, so what was available 10 years ago may not be available today. Several years ago, Yamaha sold 5 different models of grand pianos that were the same size, and one of the best of them was not sold in the U.S.. I think all grand pianos must look alike on the showroom floor and all the different design features can be quite confusing. When looking at a piano you don't know how the things you cannot see are made. It is there that compromises can be made to fit a price point. I am certain that when confronted with two products that look identical, and the prices are many thousands of dollars apart, it is difficult to appreciate the differences. But these difference are very real and affect performance and tone. Educate yourselves about how pianos are designed and made. Learn about wood technology and the art of wood seasoning. Find out for yourselves how plates can be cast to be srong enough to use fewer back supports, how soundboards can be laminated or quartersawn, why key height is so important to piano design, how wood glues have changed, how the quality of lumber has changed, metal plating techniques, and stringing scale design. STudy the manufacturing techniques that build moth and rodent proofing into the cloth,and how that might affect the properties of the wool; piano hammer making, and learn about the design of piano action geometry. Study friction and key weighing. These are just some of the things you will never detect variances in on the showroom or factory floor. If you then conclude that all pianos made by a manuafacturer brand are the same all over the world, you were probably drinking too much beer while reading.. The piano is over 300 years old. Disklaviers are a particularly wonderful accessory to the piano the idea is to enjoy them! Discussion is a healthy way to get information and you don't need to believe everything you read. I certainly do not take it personally when someone does not agree with me, and in some cases I have been wrong. But not often:) Enjoy your disklaviers. Carol Beigel ----- Original Message -----
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From: "rondisklavier" <setiawansr@...> To: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 12:35 PM Subject: [disklavier] Re: gray market disklaviers (was owners manual) > Excellent questions! My doubts start from the same questions. > > > > --- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, Mark <marcus@...> wrote: > >> What other markets require US standards for drying? Are there no > homes >> in northern Europe or Asia with forced air heat and/or very dry > winter >> air? Do these homes import US market pianos? >> Respectfully, >> Mark >> > > > > > To Post a message to the group, send it to: disklavier@... > > To Post a private message to Todd Muncy, the group's founder and > moderator, send it to: > disklavier-owner@... > > To reach our group's web site go to: > http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier > > THINKING OF LEAVING THE GROUP? > If you are thinking of unsubcribing because you are getting too much mail, > go the the web site and change your email delivery option instead. That > will fix the problem, while maintaining your access to the group. If you > insist on leaving us completely send a blank email to: > disklavier-unsubscribe@... > > Know someone who wants to join? Have them send a blank email to: > disklavier-subscribe@... or give them this link: > http://Yahoogroups.com/group/disklavier/join > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.13.1/982 - Release Date: 8/31/2007 > 5:21 PM > >