Absent Avantgrand

[dazzjazz]

I was recently interested in the Yamaha Avantgrand, only to find that Yamaha Australia won't be importing it at all.

 

Such a bummer. Anyone else in an obscure territory with some version of "Yamaha-lite"?

 

Darren

[JeffLearman]

bummer. I'm currently looking for an acoustic piano, and tried one in a local shop. Based on what I'd said I was looking for the salesman took me to see it with sort of a wink, knowing I wouldn't be serious but would be impressed, and he was right. Frankly, it sounded and felt better than the acoustics I'd been trying. Partly that's because it was in perfect tuning but none of the acoustics had been, which is a shame but understandable.

 

I have a natural aversion to 'trumped up' digitals that look like stubby little grands. The AG overcame my prejudice.

 

They did a superb job of the speaker setup on the AG. The sounds are coming from the right places, you can feel the strings vibrating under your fingers, and the sounds all come from just the right places. The only things they left out were the flaws.

 

It's a shame they won't be selling them in AU. But I bet there will be some company importing them so you can try one, and if you choose to buy sight unseen I'd be surprised to find out you can't even order it special. With "special" shipping prices, of course.

[dazzjazz]

Thanks Jeff,

 

These instruments would be a great thing for music schools, who can never afford to keep pianos in good shape. My only concern is the action cannot be removed easily (apparently) for regulation.

Next time I get to the states I'll try to find one. Perhaps by then there will be newer models.

 

As for shipping etc, for some unknown reason we pay a premium for everything, despite being closer to Japan than the US, and having a strong currency.

 

 

[JeffLearman]

I'm surprised to hear that the actions aren't easily removed. In my experience, actions from real grand pianos are generally a snap to remove. I've even done it myself a number of times, back when I played all the pianos I could find in public places, which often needed a little repair (usually just a bushing that had worked its way to interfere with the next key). Pull off the cheek blocks, slide it out a bit, make the repair, bingo. All I ever needed was a screwdriver, and I often carried a swiss army knife. I fixed a lot of loose pedal rods, too.

 

As to the premium, that's due to volume. When you ship a gazillion widgets it's way cheaper per widget than shipping just a few. Oh, that and no doubt The Man is sticking it to you. He does that.

 

I'll ask at the shop about pulling the action. I would think that even a Disklavier-instrumented action would be easy to attach and detach. And since the AG is a real Yamaha grand action, it needs periodic service just like any acoustic piano.