Yamaha - what is black polyester?

[tinkler]

Hallo,

I've been looking at new Yamaha uprights, particularly the B2 silent, (appropiate to my budget I'm afraid - a U1 would be nicer!).

However I viewed one in a showroom, thought it sounded great, but, and I hope this doesn't sound daft, I was disappointed at the "finish" - the wood seems very plasticy and dare I say - cheap, it is described as Black Polyester, can anyone elaborate any further on what this material is? Is it relatively new, does it have amazing properties?, will an older instrument, say a 1970s U1 be made of something different?

Obviously I realise the acoustics and guts are paramount, however I just felt a bit disappointed at the appearance . My current piano is a Nathaniel Berry, a big solid brute, but with constant tuning difficulties, so I wanted to "upgrade". I appreciate that my budget or lack of knowledge is probably the problem here, but just wondered if someone knew any more about black polyester, to help me make a more informed choice!?

Many thanks!!

[athomik]

Polyester is a two part polymer lacquer. It's pretty tough, hard wearing and stable, especially in conditions where more traditional finishes could be subject to fading, cracking, etc. Minor blemishes can be polished out quite easily, but deep scratches or chips can be a bit more difficult to get repaired. Polyester is a very common finish on modern pianos (and has been for quite a few years now)

[sussexpianos]

if you can get a satin wood finish then I would get that. Its easy to clean, dosn't show the scratches so easily and easy to repair. The only problem is that modern finishes use a fast stain which bleaches easy in sunlight where black is excellent at not bleaching so easy. Polyester is a pain to repair if you damage it but it is water, alcohole resistant. You will have to dust more often with black!
The U1 is a better buy. Try and get 0%apr like "Take it away" schemes but U1's are nearly always black.
If you also need the silent, Piano disc do an after market kit which you can get added to the piano at a later stage for around £1k and it has midi.