Pianos that made for EU weather

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pianocat
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Pianos that made for EU weather

Post by pianocat »

Hi

I originally planned to buy a reconditioned Yamaha piano, but after reading this from Yamaha official website, I'm not sure whether it's the right thing to do as Yamaha reconditioned piano are made in Japan to suit its local weather.

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/Con ... NTID=12175

"Yamaha had manufactured pianos for Japan and the Asian market for over 50 years before exporting pianos to North America and Europe. In the 1960s, Yamaha began exporting pianos to the United States and Canada. Our engineers were unaware of the level of dryness that existed in North American homes."

I have lost confidence in purchasing a reconditioned Yamaha piano now.

Can anyone suggest a good & reliable reconditioned piano that is suitable for UK weather?
My maximum budget is around £3k.

Thanks
vernon
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Re: Pianos that made for EU weather

Post by vernon »

Assuming you live in a house, I have never heard of any piano that has suffered from "European Weather."

Keep it warm,keep it dry,40-60 relative humidity, keep it serviced and tuned and play it often.
If you are not enamoured of Yamahas, try a Kawai K-15 that you will get for £3k new.
Our mission in life is to tune customers--not pianos.

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Re: Pianos that made for EU weather

Post by Barrie Heaton »

pianocat wrote:Hi

I originally planned to buy a reconditioned Yamaha piano, but after reading this from Yamaha official website, I'm not sure whether it's the right thing to do as Yamaha reconditioned piano are made in Japan to suit its local weather.

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/Con ... NTID=12175

"Yamaha had manufactured pianos for Japan and the Asian market for over 50 years before exporting pianos to North America and Europe. In the 1960s, Yamaha began exporting pianos to the United States and Canada. Our engineers were unaware of the level of dryness that existed in North American homes."

I have lost confidence in purchasing a reconditioned Yamaha piano now.

Can anyone suggest a good & reliable reconditioned piano that is suitable for UK weather?
My maximum budget is around £3k.

Thanks
Seasoned for destination is the term used by Yamaha its true that the early pianos of the 1950 -60 had big problems with central heating in the UK and America but pianos with S/numbers starting with 4 and up are taken down to accommodate EU and North American heating systems. Yamaha banged on about this in the late 1990s because all the cheep imports were having a big impact on sales ofnew in the US but even Yamaha are now selling secondhand pianos that were for the home market in the UK through dealers

If buying any second hand piano buy from a dealer who gives a Guarantee and get it looked at by a tuner avoid ebay bargains they very seldom are


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pianocat
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Re: Pianos that made for EU weather

Post by pianocat »

Thanks for these advice!

I will also look into Kawai K15!
pianocat
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Re: Pianos that made for EU weather

Post by pianocat »

pianos with S/numbers starting with 4 and up are taken down to accommodate EU and North American heating systems
Can I ask did you mean s/numbers from 1966 onward?

http://usa.yamaha.com/support/finding_a ... aha_piano/

e.g.

1966 - 489000?
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Re: Pianos that made for EU weather

Post by Barrie Heaton »

pianocat wrote:
pianos with S/numbers starting with 4 and up are taken down to accommodate EU and North American heating systems
Can I ask did you mean s/numbers from 1966 onward?

http://usa.yamaha.com/support/finding_a ... aha_piano/

e.g.

1966 - 489000?
Sorry I should have said number Starting 4 Million c1985 onwards

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Re: Pianos that made for EU weather

Post by pianocat »

cheers barry!
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athomik
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Re: Pianos that made for EU weather

Post by athomik »

Yamaha in the USA used to make a big issue of it but, considering that in the US you get anything from dry, freezing cold to humid, semi-tropical conditions, the whole issue is a bit of a myth. Wherever you live you need to make sure that the piano is kept in suitable conditions (even temperature & humidity). As long as you do that, it shouldn't make a difference which market the piano went to originally.
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