Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Has the Yamaha CLP 775 been discontinued?

In looking at upgrading to a higher-end mid-priced digital piano in 2021, I was most interested in trying out the Kawai CA79, which I have a strong feeling would have ticked all the boxes for me. But as there is no repair center anywhere near where I live, I resigned myself to buying into Yamaha, which isn't all that bad of a compromise. I was initially interested in the CLP 745, which is the direct competitor for the Kawai CA-59, I believe. Its price in a Rosewood stain is $3,500, quite well below the $4,200 I would have laid out for the CA79. And so it was natural for me to look closely at Yamaha's CLP 775, which is a definite step up from the CLP 745, and is the competitor to the Kawai CA79. I couldn't find any pricing for the 775, but I can't believe it would cost more than $4,200, which is the price of the CA79.

I first called Kraft Music about the 775, since they were one state away, would not charge shipping, and had at one time charged no tax. But they stated that it would be quite some time before the 775 would be available in the USA, and the government would now collect tax. The sales agent told me that when it became available I would be wise to buy from my local dealer, as Kraft had no interest in endangering the existence of music stores.

And so I called my local dealer, which I admit I should have done from the beginning. Since I will be taking piano lessons in their store, it could be rather uncomfortable if they found out I bought a Yamaha from another store. And here's where things get a little odd...

I don't know how honest the sales agent was being with me, but he said that Yamaha had decided to discontinue the 775, and now there would only be the 735, 745, 765 and 785. That seemed unusual, since YouTube certainly has videos of the 775, and Bonner's has several sales pitches for that model. Kraft had told me that because of the coronavirus the U.S. was going to have a delay in shipments of the 775, but they never indicated that it was going to be discontinued, even before it was actually released.

There was something else that seemed a little suspicious to me. While my local dealer has the 745 on display, the only other model coming into his store is the 785, and he told me I was at the top of the list to try it out when the store has it set up. His opinion, after hearing me play a number of pieces on the store's 745, was that I was too advanced for a piano like the 745, which was clearly below my abilities. I cringed at that. My Siamese cat once called 911 to have me arrested when I forgot to wear headphones while practicing, so I have a strong feeling I was being snowballed.

Anyway, does anyone know if the 775 has actually been discontinued by Yamaha, or is not being shipped to the United States? I'm certainly not going to buy the 785, which is way beyond my budget at $5,800, a fact that my dealer may not know.

Thanks in advance for all opinions, and any advice you may wish to offer.

I don't know about the future of the 775, but I can comment on your situation.

First, I agree that you were handed a sales-job by the dealer. That's typical upsell.

Second, given that shop honesty is not in evidence (is that a surprise?), are you sure of the prices you've seen?

The $3500 price for a wood-finish 745 seems high. Nearly $1000 too high.

And the $5800 quote for the 785 does not compare favorably to the $4900 price paid by Chrispy in Dec 2017 for the 685.

I suspect that the 775 price is likewise way too high.

So perhaps you could indeed afford the 785? If not, I think you might want to make a lower offer on whatever piano you choose.

Yeah, the dealer salesman is definitely shady and I wouldn't trust him. He is trying to upsell whatever inventory he has/will soon have. And, definitely do not pay what dealer's starting asking price is.

Osho

I agree with the other two posts, salesmen have a tendency to push the units they have available to sell, and dismiss the ones they don't.

On pricing, one thing to keep in mind is supply and demand. We live in uncertain times, and apparently digital pianos are quite popular due to lockdown/stay-at-home. So just because high end models were available in the global buyer's market for much less before mid-2020, it's not always the case that it still applies today. Even if you're loyal to your local dealer, shop around and see if the prices you can negotiate are relatively consistent.

Ok my understanding was that the 775 was actually never intended to be sold in United States.
If you go to the USA yamaha website, you'll find out that the 775 is actually not even listed. It may as well never have existed to that market.
[url=https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/pianos/clavinova/clp-series.html]USA yamaha web

All models from 785 to 735 are listed on the Yamaha WEB in Japan. There is no discontinued information for 775.
However, the current delivery date is often undecided.

The prices in Japan are as follows.
785 = $ 3468. 775 = $ 2649, 745 = $ 2023, 735 = $ 1493,
rate ($ 1 = ¥ 104)
Discounts, shipping costs and taxes are not included.

The Yamaha headquarters has announced as follows.

Due to the prolonged spread of the new coronavirus infection, delivery from overseas factories may be delayed, so it may take some time before delivery.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers and related parties.
We will continue to make company-wide efforts to ensure a stable supply of products. Thank you for your understanding.

The number of parts in stock and the price of repair parts are also messed up now.
It's all due to Covid.

I haven't dreamed it.
The 775 I believe was never intended for the USA market. Interesting enough, Canada got the 775.

Thanks for the info Pro-TAC, and for sharing your knowledge regarding instrument repair elsewhere on the forum.

James
x

The $5,800 quote is what most dealers list on their websites; which means the pianos are sold for much less.

Mac’s $4,900 quote is about right; personally, I would not pay more than 5K for the 785 (all included).

My bill for the 785 satin black delivered is 5200$ CAD before taxes.

I should mention I don't have the piano yet. I just have a reciep and can assure you this is the final price I will pay. Not one cent more. Ok maybe I'll tip the delivery guy. If the box is in good shape

4900 - 3500 = 1400, Last Time I checked a 40ft container only costs ~3000-6000 to ship. You can fit ALOT of these pianos in there.

Damn these middlemen.

All cabinet pianos are difficult to find nowadays, I hear that there was a fire at an electronics factory that makes components for many brands including Yamaha and Kawai. I have been able to find 1 cabinet piano in store in Milan, it's crazy. I expect production to be back on track by around March, but until then there's going to be a short supply of digital pianos.

And it would seem this is the perfect time to buy, since dealers need to sell merchandise more than ever to stay in business. The manager of our local store has told me that he might consider closing down for a few months, since he isn't selling merchandise to school bands or orchestras, or to customers who need rent money a lot more than musical instruments or books.

Regarding myself, I've been put into a tough bind and so will have to temporarily retreat. I don't want to buy a digital piano that is only going to effectively grow with me for a couple of years, which I believe the CLP 745 would be. Likewise, I'm uncomfortable financing more than $4,200 this year, which I could have paid after bargaining with a dealer on the Kawai CA79. For me, however, Kawai customer support doesn't effectively exist, so that leaves Yamaha. And since the 775 probably won't be coming to America, that means I will have to wait until 2022 to finance the CLP 785. That's not so bad as it might seem. My doctor is strictly prohibiting me from working part-time, as my medical problems could prove fatal if I contracted the coronavirus (I'm a senior citizen with a comfortable pension and social security), and even after I receive the vaccine this year, he believes it's still important to be cautious. Eventually I can work again, even at my age, and so making payments on a Yamaha CLP 785 won't be a problem. As for bargaining a good price, it's unfortunate that I don't have a spine, but it is what it is, as we Americans are so fond of saying now.

Unfortunately, DP market is booming now because so many people who are in lockdown want to pursue a piano hobby. So, many popular models have a long wait time for delivery. So, the experience of your manager is interesting. I think there are very few bargain deals in DP market right now.

Yeah, it makes sense to wait for a year - I think you will be very happy with CLP-785 based on what I have been hearing (I haven't tried it yet myself).

Regarding bargaining, one strategy I have found that works even if you are uncomfortable bargaining is to just mention to the dealer that "I love CLP-785 and wish it was $X and then I could afford it - but it's too bad it is $Y" and start to gather your stuff to leave the store. Often that does the trick if X is within 10% discounted from Y.

Osho

I have been looking for a digital piano for a few months now and most of which are backordered somehow. Only one in stock in my area are those cheap and crappy digital pianos...