Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Yamaha not made for North American Market

I had my heart set on Yamaha piano for a long time. I tried many different brands, it just does not cut. Due to the cost reason, I decided to buy a used one. Recently, I visited 3 piano stores in my area (Upstate NY) and get very confused by what I was told. I hope some of you out there can give me your honest opinions.

I found 2 used ones (U1 70’s $4000 1 yr war. and U3 ’84 $5000 4yr war.) from 2 different stores. Both are in very good conditions. I learned both were made in Japan and NOT made for North American market. I showed the sales persons what I learned from http://www.yamaha.com/pianoserials/index.asp which it discourages buying these pianos. The sales man here told me that the article is a marketing scam. They said it does not make sense that Yamaha can be made specifically for N.A. market since the climate here varies from North to South, etc.
I also went to a Yamaha dealer locally here (other two are not Yamaha dealers) asking them about it. They showed me a used Yamaha grand piano (not made for N.A) which has a few chipped paint and wood joints have gaps and cracks. At this point, I am very frustrated. I don’t know who to believe. I plan to keep this piano for a long time. I would hate to see it cracks over time. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

NoName-

I do not think Yamaha's "seasoned for destination" argument holds much water. If you have found a piano and you like the way it feels and plays, hire an independent tech to give you a second opinion and go for it. I would also make sure you buy from a reputable dealer who provides some type of warranty.

Scott

Thank you, Scott. I live in a small town and I believe all 3 dealers are reputable. I wonder if "season for dest." is true?

In my opinion, no.

noname - If you type in Grey Market or Seasoned for the US under the Search function of PW, you will find many debates on this. The overwhelming result of these debates is that Yamaha's claim to season wood for destination is nonsense, and cannot be factually supported. They seem to do it to stop their new pianos from being undercut in price by their used pianos. Very sleazy in my opinion.

Buy Chinese.

They build for "all seasons"

Everywhere.

Including Germany's.........

Norbert

I won't even qualify it with an "in my opinion". It is not true. In fact, if it *was* true, then a case could be made that Yamaha is building some of the worst pianos on the market, which is also untrue. The only truth regarding the "seasoned for destination" story is that every Yamaha dealer in the United States will tell you the story with a straight face.

I think it's clear the poster is not talking about "seasoned for destination". We're confusing two different ideas.

Built for the U.S. Market, and seasoned for destination, or built for the U.S. Climate are two different stories entirely.


None of us put much weight into the "seasoned for the U.S. Climate" story. I think what's being explained here is just another way of stating a piano is "grey" (ie. not built for U.S. Market).