Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Kawai US7X or Yamaha U3A and anyway to clean Ivorite?

Hi all,
been looking at 2nd hand piano and interested in a U3A at $4200 vs a US7X at $4500. They are all Japan exports.
The U3A is cleaner. The hammers are like brand new and the dealer says it has been changed in Japan. Tuning pins and strings are all bright. I did not check beyond.
The US7x is not as clean with some tarnish on pins and string (no rust). Ivorite keys are all yellowed. I guess that is normal?

1. Is there anyway to clean/restore the ivorite keys to original off white or at least close? Its for my daughters and they find the yellow keys "dirty" and off putting.

2. Which represents better value? Sound wise, they prefer US7X but prefers U3A action.

thanks in advance.

You didn't mention age, but I'd be inclined to lean toward the U3A.

Shinny tuning pins and new hammers aside, which piano sounds and plays the best to you? That's also an indicator of future satisfaction from a piano.

I'm no expert, but I doubt you would be able to completely remove the yellowing from the ivorite keys, but I could be wrong. And, key-top replacement is a tedious and cumbersome job if done correctly.

Good luck and keep us informed!

Rick

Thanks Rick.
The U3A is 1985 => 30 yaers.
The US7x is 1993 => 22 years.
I don't play but its for my 2 daughters and my wife used to play a little (grade 5 if I remember).
Sound wise, we prefer the US7x. Play wise, my wife prefers U3A.

Does anyone know AT32? Is it as good as US7x?

Hello! I'm new here too so I'm singularly unqualified to advise you but like you I've also been on the hunt for a new piano and have seen quite a few older Kawai and Yamaha. In fact those are the 2 most common makes here and the U3 is particularly abundant.
Generally I think with used pianos its really a matter of compromise: at that age some things would have to give so you'll have to decide if you can live with the shortcoming. On the other hand, you can hold out a bit more, if the dealer has frequent changes of stock, and see if another unit comes in which you thoroughly like.
With regards to the sound: Can the U3 be revoiced? With regards to the action, will the Kawai benefit from regulation?
One small thing about refurbished U3 pianos: Who did the refurbishing and with what parts? I'm no expert on this but there are 2 dealers in imported Japanese pianos where I live: One says his pianos are all refurbished in Japan and they come in all shiny and spotless. Another says he does all the refurbishing in house because he doesn't know what was done by whom in Japan. His pianos look tarnished and the lacquer coat is less shiny but the action is all good and the sound usually is.
Choices, choices, choices

I am very familiar with both pianos of consideration. First of all you should search out in the piano forum archives on both models. If I remember correctly I wrote a ton of critique on both models both their pros and cons over the years. Both models are gray market mdls, not officially sold NEW in the USA. The modern U3 mdl. is still being produced for the US domestic market and sold at authorized Yamaha dealers but the U3A was the last scale design produced in the Japanese Hammamatsu factory for Japan only. The U3A was discontinued for other newer models (U30A U30BL etc.)in Japan at around 1986. Personally I prefer the Kawai US7X over the grey market Yamaha U3A but it is a subjective preference of the player. Kawai had the large music rack. Pretty important to me/ The Kawai US7X I recall is not much different than the US6X which was a Kawai U.S. mdl. I think the only difference is that the US6X had a true sostenuto middle pedal. I'm actually amazed I can still remember all this stuff. My memory hasn't gone yet. The action geometry are totally different with the Yamaha having a lighter action. I prefer the firm, even, consistent action of the high level Kawai myself. That Kawai did not have ivorite key tops. Ivorite is a Yamaha thing whereas there is a coating on the acrylic plastic keys. One can actually sand that coating off and buff the keys but again that is Yamaha. That was actually a Yamaha warranty recall in the states. The original Yamaha ivorite keys got filthy and one could not clean them. Back than Yamaha replaced the keys not just the tops. It is really incredible whereas one could change the actual sticks fitting perfectly Japanese CNC precision. The Kawai keys were naturally yellow when the piano was NEW. They were called Neotex.That is not a sandable coating. If the keys have yellowed more over the years that is because the plastic is discoloring over age. You can look at the sides of the keys to see whether the yellowing is all the way through the thickness of the keytop. If not you could tell the dealer to clean them. I don't know where you are but those prices are high. I sold those pianos way cheaper but they were also 10-15 years newer 10-15 years ago. I'd go brand new nowadays over a semicrusty 30
+ year old asian piano.The import firms don't actually refurbish the Japanese uprts or grands They just clean them and change the repetition threads on the uprts.. If you saw what they looked like after being in Japan for 30 years you would reconsider. You have to realize Japan is a humid detrimental environment. After 30 years ...... Acquiring a grey market piano that is 10 years or newer will not show the detrimental environment but 30 years is a different story. These independent refurbishing firms can not refurbish a grand or an uprt. to the precision level of a NEW Japanese piano period. Be careful and GOOD LUCK! Now you know more than the salesman.