Completely fed-up with Yam U1

[Openwood]

So we got this brand new Yamaha U1 last September, which, I think we can all agree, is not a Geological Age away from today's date. The sensor unit for the silent system packed-up in February and now I've been told that a replacement won't be available until July. Yes, that's right JULY, as in February, March, April, May, June, JULY.

Also, the tuning is, imo, unstable - it had it's second routine tuning in mid-February and it's completely all over the place again. Couldn't use it for recording this week.

If my tuner was to put something in writing about standard of the preparation (which I think he might) do you think there would be a chance of getting a replacement instrument out of the dealer?

I don't want to be unreasonable, but I really don't feel I should be having these problems with what is supposedly a professional standard instrument.

[PianoGuy]

If my tuner was to put something in writing about standard of the preparation (which I think he might) do you think there would be a chance of getting a replacement instrument out of the dealer?

Close to zero I would have thought.

A tuner aquaintance of mine has a client who bought a s/h but fairly recent piano which turned out to have a shagged plank; pins slipping all over the place. Dealer doesn't want to know and offered to buy the piano back for about 55% of the purchase price after 5 months!

You may possibly get a free repair.

[Openwood]

Feared as much.

[PianoGuy]

They'll likely weasel out of it having been bought for "educational use".

[mdw]

Time to start giving Yamaha themselves some greif then.
If their dealer is not up to scratch then get Yamaha to sort it. We sell Kemble and I will still guarantee educational use for 5 years. If a kid rips hammers out then no but normal suff like sticky notes etc then fair enough we cover it.
Did you buy by credit card or finance agreement as if either of those you may be able to get the 3rd party involved. However if you paid by cheque or debit card I guess your on your own. Poor show either way. Kind of knocks the shine off Yamahas halo.

[Openwood]

Yup, depressingly predictable.

[mdw]

Go to Citizens advice and ask what your rights are. Worst case go to small claims court. They will likely not want the hassle and sort it out before it gets too far. Sadly you will have to invest a bit of time to start the process.

[Barrie Heaton]

Silent pianos are very unstable in their first year or so why! you may say the back is the same as a U1 but in production the reduced action stops the plonking machinery from hitting them as hard because of the set off change. The tuners find them a bitch to wedge so it slows them down and when I have spoke to other tuners then say they don't hit then as hard as the wedge get in the way.

Then you have the client they use the silent system so the string are not being hit. and in your case practise rooms do swing in humidity

So it is not a big surprise that the piano needs tuning again I have about 20 Yamaha silent pianos on my round and all take longer to tune and more tunings to bed in

To speed up bedding in I have used a string wheel on the steels and pushed down on the bass but I would rather not do that if I can get away with it

Barrie

[PianoGuy]

The tuners find them a bitch to wedge so it slows them down and when I have spoke to other tuners then say they don't hit then as hard as the wedge get in the way.

Too right. They are a pain, although the U1 has a bit more room than the badly cramped Kemble Cambridge/Oxford twins and the b1/b2.

[Openwood]

all take longer to tune and more tunings to bed in

That's reassuring as I was really starting to feel I had a dud on my hands. If it settles down after a couple more tunings and if the new sensor unit actually arrives I will hopefully have a decent piano on my hands once again

[A440]

Did Yamaha mention which July?
I've given up on Yamaha's time promises, they don't mean anything. They seem to have an annoying policy of saying a random time in the future rather than an honest "I don't know". I now never pass on info from Yamaha to the customer because it invariably turns out to be wrong and when the promised time comes round the cusomer is, quite rightly, put out.
I don't know why Yamaha pianos are such a difficult organization to deal with when Kemble are entirely the opposite and an absolute joy. They could certainly learn something from them.

[Barrie Heaton]

I don't know why Yamaha pianos are such a difficult organization to deal with when Kemble are entirely the opposite and an absolute joy. They could certainly learn something from them.

They have a deep management structure and very strong demarcation lines something like we use to have in the UK but was stopped by the iron lady in the 80's

Barrie,

[Openwood]

I won't be buying another Yamaha for school, that's for sure.

[athomik]

So we got this brand new Yamaha U1 last September, which, I think we can all agree, is not a Geological Age away from today's date. The sensor unit for the silent system packed-up in February and now I've been told that a replacement won't be available until July. Yes, that's right JULY, as in February, March, April, May, June, JULY.

Even if your part needs to be ordered from Japan, it shouldn't take more than 3-6 weeks to get here (unless they don't have it in stock in Japan which, for current/recent models, is extremely rare). Who actually ordered the part? Sometimes the delay can be due to the workload of the engineer carrying out the repair, not the availability of parts. It may also be worth checking if you can't get away with just a replacement circuit board, rather than a complete assembly, although many engineers would go for the complete unit to avoid repeat visists.

[sussexpianos]

The set off on silents is around 15mm so you don't get as much power as a normal but I think its enough to set the string when tuning. New pianos do take a while to settle down as the new strings etc are settling and the woods are also doing the same. If it was a normal U1 then I would suggest a damp chaser system but I wouldn't recommend water and electrics
Get a room humidifier ( evaporative) and that should help the stability.
A dealer wouldn't replace a piano unless it was damaged beyond repair or a major fault but they should be helpful and giving you the best service they can offer.

[Grenache]

The sticker inside my U1 silent say that the "let-off" from hammer to string should be 5.5 to 8 mm.

[Barrie Heaton]

If it was a normal U1 then I would suggest a damp chaser system but I wouldn't recommend water and electrics

DC do a system for silent pianos it fits on the back of the piano helps stables the soundboard but no use on the action

Barrie,

[sussexpianos]

there are different silent systems out there so each is different with the setoff, genio is around 10-12 depending on how the rail fits, the pianodisc is around the same.Yamaha may say 5.5 to 8mm but on a few I've had to make it 10mm to stop the hammers blocking.

[Descombes]

there are different silent systems out there so each is different with the setoff, genio is around 10-12 depending on how the rail fits, the pianodisc is around the same.Yamaha may say 5.5 to 8mm but on a few I've had to make it 10mm to stop the hammers blocking.

This all sounds really interesting, but could someone explain "let off", "set off" and "blocking" to a non-technical, but eager to learn, pianist?

[mdw]

there are different silent systems out there so each is different with the setoff, genio is around 10-12 depending on how the rail fits, the pianodisc is around the same.Yamaha may say 5.5 to 8mm but on a few I've had to make it 10mm to stop the hammers blocking.

You can normaly get the set off down to 5-8m on most systems as long as the blocking rail doesnt flex too much so you need the 3rd suport and sometimes 4th support bracket in place for the rail to pivot on.

[A440]

I've had a few problems with the damper backs catching the rail. On the smaller models the tolerence is too small and if the piano is moved it needs checking. I'm not overfond of the nylon doublescrew adjuster used on the pedal.
The 2 big questions are
1. why cant they make it easier to get the bottomboard off?
2. why can't the wire to the back of the box be better hidden, going through the case as it used to?
Rocket science it aint, but they look dreadful with the wire going round or under the piano.

[sussexpianos]

ive got scares where ive been moving a piano and the bottom door falls down on to my legs! The springs are the best Ive seen.