Why Does Every Piano Shop Compare The Yamaha U1?
Why is The Yamaha U1 the Industry Standard?
There have been more blog discussions, information articles, reviews, sales comparisons, and yes, misinformation about this piano, than for any other piano in the world!
The Yamaha U1 is undoubtedly the most popular upright piano ever made.
Why is it considered the standard? Because of its Touch, Sound, and Stability
These pianos are built exceptionally well, and are very versatile. Yamaha’s U1 has been made in Japan since the 1960s. Manufacturing is an art form in Japan; Japanese factories are some of the most automated in the world. Further, Japanese pianos are among the most uniformly made pianos. Did you know that Yamaha Pianos are the most recorded piano in the world?
The Yamaha U1 have a very rich and resonant tone. It’s very suitable for not only classical music of any era, but also for jazz, pop and rock. Yamaha has diligently and successfully worked to build a piano with such a robust and versatile tone. Did you know the University of Ottawa chose U1’s for their piano practice rooms?
The Yamaha U1’s action (touch) is exceptionally precise. The control you get over your music is almost unmatched in anything in the same price range. Whether you are playing demanding, virtuosic music with constant shifts in dynamics or you are preparing for your first piano exam, this model will grow with you. Did you know The Royal Conservatory of Music asks for the Yamaha U1 for their examination centres?
Larry Fine’s Acoustic & Digital Piano Buyer lists the Yamaha U1 as a staff pick, calling it “the standard against which every 48” vertical [piano] is inevitably compared”.
Now for some honest advice:
The U1 is the world’s most compared piano. We encourage you to do your research and shop around. Our customers come back into our showroom with quite a few stories to tell:
Comparing a 40-year-old U1 to a new piano one is a recent story. You would think this would be a great opportunity to see how well a Yamaha U1 ages. However, if the piano has been neglected (i.e. the piano was not looked at by a technician for maintenance purposes over the years), the action becomes a little uneven, and some notes become slightly heavier than others. As a result, the piano sounds, well, quite inferior to any new piano. This tactic is offensive to the customer’s intelligence and damaging to all the piano stores who provide honest information.
Comparing a Grey market U1 to a new Yamaha U1 is another story we have heard. There is a lot of concern out there about used Yamaha pianos. Some of these pianos come from Japan, where they’ve been used in schools for 20 – 30 years, sold to a distributor and then shipped overseas for sale in another country. This is called a “grey market” piano, otherwise known as a piano manufactured for the Japanese market and now being used elsewhere. The wood used in the Yamaha Pianos destined for Canada is kiln dried differently than the rest of the world because we have such extreme temperature and humidity fluctuations. Some grey market pianos stand up to our Canadian climate conditions and some will not. Obviously, this is not a fair comparison point.
Finally, we just want to say we are an authorized Yamaha Piano Dealer and are delighted to have the new Yamaha U1’s in our showroom and sometimes even a good previously owned one. We are here to clarify any misinformation, dispel any rumours, and demonstrate to you how we can help you on your piano purchasing journey. After all, we have been at it for almost 54 years as a locally owned family business.
