NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) is the big musical instrument industry trade show. Technically it’s held twice a year, but the big show is every January in Anaheim, California. Anybody and everybody connected with the musical products industry shows and attends NAMM. This includes pianos of all price points, drums, brass and wind instruments, guitar picks, amps, guitars, disco fog machines, makers of fine hand crafted conducting batons and everything, I mean everything in between. It’s a huge show and the Anaheim Convention Center is one of the only convention centers in the country that can hold it. NAMM is not a consumer show.  Manufacturers display their products and sell them to retailers, who will later sell them to consumers. Therefore it is a wholesale show, not open to the public. Thank god, because it is busy and crazy enough as it is. That being said, there are always

Yamaha has had a high end “craft built” line for a number of years and has been a very serious builder of concert pianos for decades. The concert grand, the CFIII (CF3) has undergone a number of iterations and experiments, resulting in the model CFIIIS that has been the flagship for the last 8 years or so. This year Yamaha is unveiling, both at NAMM and at the Frankfurt show,  the newest version called the CFX (X, not 10) and 2 smaller models with the same construction techniques, the CF4 and CF6. While there was a lot for Yamaha to talk about at NAMM this year, they did focus a lot of attention on these new pianos, hosting a press conference at which Mitsuru Umemura, the President of Yamaha Corporation global spoke and pianist Frederic Chiu performed. The performance (short but effective) was repeated at the Yamaha Dealers breakfast on

So now you have a major Japanese piano maker with a proven high end approach owning and taking marketing and sales responsibility for a 180 year old Austrian maker of what is generally referred to as one of the worlds finest craft built pianos; what happens next? My prediction is that good things will come out of this for both companies but the road will not be pot hole free. 1. Yamaha understands the high end piano world. Yamaha has beaten their collective heads against the entrenched  base, prejudices and the occasionally less than honorable marketing techniques of the current industry monopolist and they are deeply aware of the sensitivity that surrounds the Bosendorfer brand identity. They have repeatedly stated that they plan no changes in Bosendorfer manufacturing and but will have to take some steps to ensure the continued viability of Bosendorfer as a semi-independent entity. Yamaha also understands,

In a nutshell, the S series are Yamaha’s concert level, hand made pianos. Made in a separate factory, these 3 models, the S4 (191 cn, 6’3″)  , S6 (212m, 6’11″) and CFIIIS  (275cm, 9′) (pronounced C F three S)  are made using techniques that would be familiar in any high end piano factory. Lots of hand chisels, a relaxed but intense pace working with materials that are chosen with less regard to the price. The result is a piano with much more character, range and overall playing quality with the distinctive sound Yamaha strives for in their concert instruments.

I’m in Charleston SC right now (really great city!) and just heard Valentina Lisitsa play the Tchaikovsky 1 with the Warsaw Philharmonic. Valentina is a big Bosendorfer fan, and the feeling is mutual. But our bank of concert pianos can’t completely keep up with the vast range of her performances, and we don’t have a piano near Charleston. So, imagine my surprise to see a shiny Yamaha CFIIIS on the stage. I’m rather partial to the CFIIIS, having managed the Yamaha US Artist Relations program for 10 years. Oh, and I also own one. I believe that the world needs more than one concert piano and Yamaha has worked very very hard to give the world one, with the resources to put it out where people can see (hear) it. You could call the world of concert pianos a zero sum game (any win for one is a loss for

Why am I such a Bosendorfer geek? In a nutshell, everything I know about high end pianos I learned from Bosendorfer. Seeing my first Imperial at the University of Wisconsin/Madison at the ripe age of 20 set me on my path. From then on, there was nothing so dramatic, spectacular and, well, downright sexy as that piano. The extra keys, the shape of the rim, the construction detail, the sound, there was nothing like it, especially not the Steinway D’s scattered about the building. Later, to my utter amazement, I got the chance to work there. I was trained at the factory, did concert service throughout the US, and became the first US Service manager. yes, I are a technician …can you identify the world famous pianist on the right? Then, again later, after a stint with a major East coast Steinway dealer and 12 years at Yamaha, I had

I worked for for Bosendorfer during the Kimball years.  That, in my opinion, was a much less logical combination than Bosendorfer and Yamaha and there were plenty of jokes (Kimball-dorfers, Bosen-balls). But, in fact, Kimball was a wonderful steward for Bosendorfer, probably a better steward of Bosendorfer than of their own brand. I believe that a large part of our US market presence today is due to the tremendous investment in Bosendorfer marketing that Kimball made 25 years ago. You can accuse me of smarmonisoty (I made part of that up) at this point, but I believe that Yamaha will be a similar steward (and I sincerely hope so for the sake of my career). There is an important aspect to the value proposition, beyond the simple profit and loss accounting, that just makes sense. Yamaha is deeply dedicated to the world of serious pianos and music making and has demonstrated that

Pending approval by the Yamaha board in late December. Then probably a couple months of closing. I’m not going to say much, except that I believe that Yamaha is purchasing Bosendorfer with the best of intentions for preserving an important name in the piano industry and helping them prosper. I believe they will be good stewards of the company.

I’ve developed good concert prep kind of skills; regulation, voicing, finding and fixing noise, working under time pressure etc. What I am NOT is a rebuilder. I’ve voiced new hammers from scratch alot, but I really haven’t had much experience installing new hammers. However, considering how many people do it, how hard can it be? So, about 3 years ago I decided to replace the original overvoiced stock Yamaha CFIII hammers with a new set. First decision, replace with what? Since I wisely figured that my first hanging job would not be my best, I bought a set from Wally Brooks…the make of which I really can’t remember (deep red underfelt). I know that is herasy to hammer buffs (what??!!! I suppose you don’t remember your MOM’s name either!!). I had Wally drill them and I hung on the original shanks. Well, let’s just say my hammer hanging was pretty