Comments on latest Yamaha S6

[robert_s]

I have been loaned a Yamaha S6 (S6 PE BB) by my local retailer.  My current instrument is a 1982 S400b which is due for renovation/replacement.  I have been keen on the Yamaha sound in the past.

My impresson is that the treble/midrange on the S6 is rather dull.  I have to work hard to bring out the melody, which I have not had to do with my S400.  I have been told that Yamaha have done this intentionally in their new model to counter criticisms that the sound is too bright.  I recently played a near-new Steinway model B recently and it had none of these problems and it seems to be altogether better than the S6 (apart from the price!).

My question is - how can I expect the sound of the S6 to change during the next 6-18 months with about 1-2h of quite heavy use every day?  Also - how much can this be remedied by a good technician?

My initial thought is that if its not just right to start with then it may never be, and that I should consider the Model B.

I would be interested in comments.

[hfmadopter]

I doubt final voicing has taken place yet on the piano if it's a new one. I don't know anything about the Yamaha specifically but new pianos take a while to play in . A tech would then do final voicing and probably more than one tuning before everything settles down.

There is a lot of room for voicing in hammers but the Yamaha is likely to never sound like the Steinway just fwiw. Also consider how each piano feels to play. You will fall in love with some piano out there in the world, that's one you want to buy because that's the one you will want to play on.

[sirpazhan]

you may not notice much change in brightness or tone with 1-2 hours a day for 6 months.  maybe 3-4 hours a day for 6-8mo.  I'm not sure if those hammers have been lacquered during the final prep of the piano. It would be hard to say.  

Pianos do get brighter since the more you play, the deeper the indentations left by the strings become in the hammers/felts.  But honestly, I don't think you'd see much, if any change in 6mo.  

A very good tech (who specializes in voicing) would definitely be able to voice that piano to your specs.  He'd brighten that baby all the way up.  But you'd end up paying around $1,000 for it.  Maybe more.

and you'll never get that rasp/bright sound of a steinway.. no matter how good the tech is.  S6's are a completely different animal.    
 

  

[robert_s]

I now own this beast.  Looks like I'll get voicing etc done for nix - along with a total of 20 free tunings thrown in with purchase.  I'll probably wait for a year before I get much done to it.