At our school of music, it was decided about 4 years ago to purchase 5 to 6 Yamaha Clavinovas for a few of our practice rooms. This has been sort of an "experiment" of sorts (to see how these would work out-but there was a great deal of concern among some that it would not be a good decision to move in the digital direction. (These rooms are downstairs in our band area). These rooms are open to anyone and do tend to get used by anyone needing a place to practice. They have held up well so far, but....it has not been long enough to really tell about longevity. We have had some issues with these, for example the mounting screws are bad about falling out. Then when you ask for help moving these around for various reasons, fingers get pinched, etc. I ordered an ample supply of these screws from Yamaha and use Loctite so they will stay in the future. This sounds really super simple but it does take some time. Also they still need the keys cleaned & general cleaning, etc.
For us, so far we have been pleased as it HAS helped some having fewer units to do regular tunings on-I would not think that a reputable & "SERIOUS" school of music would want to have a large inventory of these. For so so many reasons. Having a few-ptettt helpful. Great for losning out in certain special situations!!
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[Kevin] [Fortenberry] [RPT]
[Staff Techician]
[Texas Tech Univ]
[Lubbock] [TX]
[8067783962]
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-09-2017 12:48
From: Fred Sturm
Subject: Digital piano longevity in practice rooms?
No actual experience with them in a practice room. In a group piano classroom, they last maybe 10 years.
Original Message------
A community college in my area has a number of Hamilton verticals- about 40+ years old. These are often beat on by marginal "musicians". As you would expect, they are now like old taxicabs, looking beat up and are noisy. They actually have held up quite well considering the million miles of wear.
There is discussion among the staff of replacing them with moderately priced digital pianos. They want my opinion. Any of you have experience with digital vs. conventional pianos in heavily used practice rooms?
Thanks!
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Thomas Armstrong
Salinas CA
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