Hi all - Had an opportunity to purchase a grand piano for my classroom. Initially I wanted a Young Chang YP185 conservatory grand. Then a Yamaha GC2 was available from another dealer. I liked them both. I thought the Yamaha was a little thin sounding at the top end. Is the GC2 meant to be a educational/institutional piano? Every technician I spoke with said take the Yamaha. Spoke with a professional jazz musician who works often in NYC and he said Young Chang action does not hold up. New piano will be played four to five hours a day, 10 months out of the year. Need a piano that will last a long time. Need a piano that will take a beating. Any thoughts? Thanks so much.

It seems like that piano is going to be taking a lot of love (abuse), so I would have to agree with taking the Yamaha. Unless you absolutely love the sound of the Young Chang, it will doubtlessly give you more headaches than the Yamaha given enough time. The new Young Changs are probably built more reliably, but not much can match the consistent build quality of a Yamaha piano in its price range.

I have formed this opinion from my College's practice room pianos. These pianos take a lot of abuse. We have 2 Young Changs and many Yamahas. The Young Changs are nice, but something always seems to be wrong with them such as sticking keys or malfunctioning pedals. The Yamahas may be out of tune, but they are always good to go for hours of hard practice.

Edit: BTW, we also have a nice GC2. Quite a nice piano.

The YC's 5" size adevantage sways me to its side.

Were they of more equal length, I too would go for the Yamaha.

I would go for the Yamaha. The YC's that I see in institutional settings don't cut it.

Take care,

Steve