Recent experience with Yamaha C7

[iumonito]

This past weekend I played the worst C7 I have ever encountered, a late eighties wet piano for about $17,000 on the sticker.  The black keys were not aligned, so that the edge of the upper part of the key would chaffe against the side of your fingers while playing.  Bizarre.

The keyboard was all plastic and the hammers had that feel of toy piano that I had grown to expect only from the smaller Yamahas.

I wonder whether there have been any radical changes in Yamaha design that would warrant a clear distinction when we are talking about Yamahas from the mid eighties and Yamahas from the late 90s on, which I had consistently found to be very competent.

The alternate question is whether anyone know how much it costs to replace the action (including keyboard and hammers) so that the seemingly competitive price fo this instrument gets in equal footing with an acceptable instrument.

Opinions?

[chris_quinn]

I'd wonder what sort of ordeal that particular piano may have gone through.  My recollection is that C7s are generally very well regarded.

[tosca1]

How disappointing! The Yamaha C7 does indeed have a very good reputation, but any piano can be devastated through misuse, poor maintenance, an unsuitable environment or some unfortunate event such as water damage.
I would seek professional opinion on the cause of the problem and an expert tuner/technician can often perform miracles. Yamaha pianos also have an excellent reputation for being maintenance friendly with mechanisms easily accessible for regulation and tuning.  Before having a lot of expensive replacement work done, check with a very reputable, independent professional.

Kind regards,
Robert.