Yeah, I have some thoughts. A Yamaha N3 was purchased by a Jazz Club in Chicago because they didn't want to pay for weekly tunings. As noted, the pianists all hated it.
The real problem with it was that when anything broke inside, there are 22 screws to remove to get into the action. The hammer assemblies started snapping at the glue joint between the " hammer head" and the shank. You can't reglue or repair it, it must be replaced. The approximate cost was $50/ assembly. And there are 7 different assemblies, based on the weight it is trying to mimic from bass to treble.
Also, key dip is non standard, must stay between 9.3 and 9.5mm or dip will be too deep, and that will snap the shank.
The heavy use of a practice room piano will doom the instrument quicker than at the Jazz club, which was only open maybe 4 nights a week. They eventually traded it back to get a used C3, which the musicians are really thrilled with. Now the owner doesn't have a maintenance headache, just a predictable tuning expense.
The private client who bought the used N3 is a heavy handed player, and he has broken 3 hammer assemblies in a year, is thinking about trading it for a upright Disklavier so he can still practice at night.
Where would they be useful? A faculty office where it is only used for light practice and giving a pitch to a student, perhaps. But a digital keyboard could do that and be much cheaper.
David Graham
Graham Piano Service, Inc.
512 S. Main St.
Sycamore IL 60178
815-353-5450
Original Message:
Sent: 2/19/2024 11:17:00 AM
From: Michelle Gray
Subject: Digital Hybrids
The university I work for is thinking about the possiblity of digital hybrid pianos in the practice rooms. Anyone have any thoughts about them?
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Michelle Gray RPT
Murray KY
(251) 895-8135
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