The truth about the Brand New Pianos

Posted on September 14th, 2021

You want to buy a piano, Of course you want to buy brand new piano because that’s what you will pay for. You go to google and you punch in “brand new piano” and low and behold, it stated, Lazada with “Yamaha U3, PHP 6,000.00 including delivery”. So you think, WOW, that’s not so much, but you want to call for second opinion and you remembered Manila Pianos because they specialized in used pianos and they might have one for PHP 3,000 or so.

You call Manila Pianos’ mobile number 0917 895 0011 and get someone on the phone whom you ask for a used Yamaha U3 and the guy tells you it’s around PHP 250,000!!! So you asked, how much is a new one? The guy tells you around PHP 600,000 pesos. Now you are all confused. What to heck is going on?

You hang up and try to do some more research. You call Yamaha and ask them the price of a new Yamaha piano. The person on the line tells me, oh, you can already buy a new one for PHP 299,000. So you asked, is that a U3 made in Japan, and the guy answers, no Ma’am, this is a new Yamaha U3 made in Indonesia. Now you are all confused, thinking Yamaha is made in JAPAN!

Due to the high prices of good materials and labor in Japan they started to outsource their product to Indonesia, same with Kawai pianos. Indonesia is China’s closest competitor in terms of price and quality. But unlike China, in which many small and large companies, domestic and foreign, are involved in piano manufacturing. All pianos made in Indonesia are the products of three large, foreign players: Yamaha, Kawai, and Samick. For the U.S. market, Yamaha makes an entry-level grand and most of their smaller verticals in Indonesia; Kawai makes all its small and medium-sized verticals there, and one entry-level grand; and Samick makes all its pianos for sale in North America there, both grand and vertical.

You wanted to buy a good quality Japanese piano and now it seems that you can only buy a Japan piano made in Indonesia for your budget. First your budget was PHP 6000, now it is PHP 250,000 what should you do???

According to our Google research, we found out that the superior Japanese pianos were produced in the 1970 and 1980’s as much for Yamaha as well as Kawai. We also found out that the best Korean pianos, like Young Chang, were owned by Yamaha and they produced superior pianos between 1985 and 2000.

The Yamaha Corporation was originally named Nippon Gakki, which translated means ‘Japan musical instruments’. It was changed to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. The First World War brought extraordinary benefits for Nippon Gakki, as it brought about an impressive development in the Japanese business. The piano organization had the option to accommodate markets that couldn’t get to conventional causes of supply, for example, Asian business sectors. 1,000 specialists were utilized and they were making 1,200 pianos per year by 1920. Such great deals records were kept up even after the conflict had wrapped up.

The Yamaha Serial Numbers

Yamaha Pianos have been manufactured in 4 locations:

• Hamamatsu, Japan
• Thomaston, Georgia
• South Haven, Michigan
• Jakarta, Indonesia

Therefore, there are four unique serial numbers for Yamaha pianos.

If the serial number starts with a “T” , the piano was fabricated in Thomaston, Georgia. If your grand piano is a GH1G, GH1FP, GC1G, or GC1FP, your piano was produced in Thomaston, Georgia.

If the serial number starts with a “U” , the piano was fabricated in South Haven, Michigan.

If your grand piano is a GA1E, DGA1E, GB1, or DGB1, your piano was produced in Jakarta, Indonesia.

If your piano is any other grand piano it was produced in Hamamatsu, Japan.

In the event that your upright piano is taller than 45″ it was fabricated in Hamamatsu, Japan.

In the event that your upright piano is 45″ or shorter and has seven numbers, it was fabricated in Hamamatsu, Japan after January, 1970.

The following are the serial numbers made in Japan.

So the trick is to find a GOOD USED JAPANESE piano. They are better in terms of quality and sound. Used pianos have completely cured wood which makes them last longer.

We at Manila Pianos has a wide collection of used pianos from different brands. We know how to rebuild pianos from the ground up, we assure that Pianos are in good shape prior to displaying them in our showroom. We have sold thousands of used Japanese pianos in Canada before we moved our facilities the Philippines.

We offer a full 10 year warranty on used Japanese products as we know the pianos have the highest quality inside and have been checked by our professional technicians, all 6000 parts! Send us a message today!

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Steinway & Sons – Model O

Posted on September 4th, 2021

This Steinway & Sons – Model O ‘s rich tone and responsive action is found in a considerable number homes, schools of music and studios. With 5’10” (177.8cm) size, it was tagged as the “Medium” Grand. However, there isn’t anything medium about the sound from this Steinway.

For over a century and a half, the world’s most refined musicians have liked to communicate their music expression on a Steinway and Sons pianos. The lists includes the classics, jazz, and even pop music culture; the people who have formed the world’s music legacy. Today, in excess of 98% of the world’s dynamic professional piano players decide to perform on Steinway Pianos. The delight of playing and possessing a Steinway piano, in any case, isn’t the restrictive area of the virtuosi. Rather, it is a world open to all who share an affection for music, fine craftsmanship and enduring quality.

That which distinguishes Steinway pianos, more than all else, is summarized in our commitment to a solitary ideal: make the best pianos on the planet. It has never entered our psyches to think twice about. Where some have subbed mass-delivered, manufactured segments to speed creation or lessen costs, we apply innovations and new materials just when they give demonstrated upgrades in the piano. We hold fast to these standards for one explanation — compromise quality, and you risk the sound, the touch, and eventually, the respectability of the instrument.

The Technology

While we stick to the customary upsides of craftsmanship, Steinway & Sons – Model O has likewise reliably driven through advancement. The earliest pianos made by Steinway were recognized by their imaginative components — a large number of which characterized the advanced piano. Today, every Steinway piano is a summation of our obligation to advancement. Each joins more than 125 licensed components and cycles, including our protected Diaphragmatic® soundboard, Accelerated Action® and Hexagrip® pinblock.

A Steinway & Sons – Model O takes nearly a year to create. Nothing is hurried. Even the carefully selected woods that make the Steinway a fantastic piano requires almost a year to make. Indeed, even the carefully selected woods that make up the edges, top, soundboards, and activities remedy for quite a long time in Steinway’s yard, ovens, and molding rooms before they settle at an unbendingly indicated moisture content. The edge of the pianos comprises of layers of hard rock maple and with our chime quality, full cast-iron plate, withstands the gigantic measure of strain applied by the strings. The best acoustic-quality tidy is formed into the fragile bend of the Diaphragmatic® soundboard, which tightens delicately from the middle to the edge, guaranteeing the full, rich Steinway sound.

Ultimately, the pieces — massive and delicate — come together through the interweaving of the craft and technology until the instrument is complete. However it is not a Steinway until voicing gives it the special quality that makes it unique. In Steinway, every subtle nuance is drawn out by balancing and adjusting the keys and shaping, hardening or softening each hammer.

The Quality of Steinway & Sons – Model O

In the end, the new piano is transformed from more than 12,000 individual parts into an instrument… and from an instrument into a Steinway.

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