Don't buy a Yamaha AvantGrand piano 

Update Aug 8. The piano has been repaired. Apparently I have to wait for 2 weeks to get the repair bill because the guy at Yamaha who knows what the parts cost is on vacation. I will update here as soon as I can. Thanks for all your messages and comments. ❤

Sorry about your bad experience. I have owned an AvantGrand N3 since 2010 as a practising instrument next to a Steinway grand piano. I have been extremely happy with my N3 and it is still in great condition, pretty much as good as when I got it. I have put it through thousands of hours of playing with anything from Disney songs to Chopin and Rachmaninov etudes and concertos. It has never let me down and has performed above expectations on top of being a very sleek-looking interior piece. I would definitively buy again.

I had 2 digital pianos in my short list, Yamaha and Kawai. Now I know which one to buy, thanks for sharing this information.

Thanks for your review and saving me thousands on the N3X I was considering. Yamaha should have stood behind their product and repaired (parts and labor) for free! Because of your video and the excellence of Kawai electronic pianos, I bought from them.

Thanks for this video which just popped up as a recommend, as it reflects my experience with a Yamaha instrument a few years back. I’m in the UK and thought maybe I was being unreasonable when after buying one of the high end Clavinovas (I’m very pushed for space but required a ‘proper’ piano action) it started to fail in similar ways to your piano, and both Yamaha and the local dealer seemed incapable of dealing with it properly. It was eventually fixed under warranty after a great deal of tetchy back and forth, but within a few months keys had started dropping out again, and one of the internal speakers failed. Even after paying for a repair myself, within a few months the problems recurred. I sold it at considerable loss on eBay in the end as 'for parts'. It was junk and I felt I’d been ripped off. For comparison, an entry level Roland piano I used while away at work never missed a beat for years and was sold on. The Yamaha was replaced with another entry level Kawai and eventually a VPC1 and Pianoteq which I’d been using intermittently for a while (other software is available of course, this is just my favourite). This might be a better way to go as you don’t have to keep replacing instruments as the software advances. I was disappointed to put it mildly, as prior to this I’d never come across a piece of Yamaha gear that was no good: I have Yamaha outboard processors and a synth from the 80s which all still work fine, plus an SA 2000S guitar which is absolutely top dollar.

I was at the piano dealer a few weeks back. They had a Kawai CN29 on close out for around $1,500 it played beautifully, and sounded quite nice. You don't need $3.000.00 in parts.

I may not have made this video had Yamaha offered repair the piano and then only charge me for the parts used, labor, taxes, and shipping. Instead they wanted me to pay thousands up front, wait 6 weeks, and hope they guessed right on parts needed. This was not acceptable. Update 1: Because of this video Yamaha says will now send parts out and only charge me for the parts used for the repair plus shipping, taxes, and labour costs. Update 2: I ordered parts over 6 weeks ago, and I am still waiting, The dealer (Tom Lee Music in Vancouver) has not contacted me in those 6 weeks.

I’m sorry to hear about this…what a headache. I have been considering the avantgrand myself so appreciate you sharing your experience. I suppose these hybrids are relatively new tech so there’s inherent risk there but you should expect better from Yamaha.

Be sure and play as many acoustics as you can. It will help you to find what your tonal and touch preference is. Also do plenty of research. It's a good thing to be an informed buyer.

It is sad to see a once great musical instrument maker decline so far as to be peddling expensive disposable pianos. They should have fixed this "lemon" for free. For about one-third of the repair cost they quoted you anyone can buy a new Korg B2 digital piano with hardwood stand and three pedals. The B2 has good key action and decent sound. You deserve better than what they sold you and I hope you wind up getting your money's worth.

I actually have seen this before on my Yamaha Clavinova. A group of keys would occasionally stop working. I discovered that there was an alignment issue with the key-bed. If I torgued the key-bed I could get the keys to function again. For #3K you could get a new Rolland RD-2000 which is a helluva digital piano. It has a great action is built to be dragged from stage to stage. Performers refer to them as "Road Dogs".

Sorry to hear about your hassle with the dealer and the instrument. Not discounting any of your unfortunate experience, but I wanted to share that I've owned an AvantGrand N1 for about 8 years and have really enjoyed it. It is one of the fully digital ones - no strings at all - so perhaps not as relevant to this thread. I've played it a lot! It is my main practice instrument - I bought it for the action - and I use it as my primary midi controller in my studio as well. As a professional pianist, and having played since I was a kid, my experience with Yamaha keyboards has been a little hit and miss. Their older P-90 era keyboards are workhorses! But their grands are inconsistent. I've played two that I thought were pleasurable, musical and reliable. The others over the years have felt unsatisfactory. I've found their uprights ok, but not great. I wish you the best in your search for a satisfying instrument.

it's a shame it takes a youtube video for them to fix it. we are all different, but on principle i would not have accepted their 'attempt to repair' after this video was posted.

Don't know if this helps or applies in this situation. My 3 year experience with Yamaha digital piano. They don't like Android phones near them. I don't know about IOS stuff, they work with Apple apps so maybe it's different. Here's what I discovered by just placing my android phone on the keys while playing. Certain keys would act up. Playing loud and rude, playing even when not played, or not sounding at all. Sometimes it would cause multiple keys to act up, then octaves,then 5ths and 4ths. I thought it was junk. Some times it malfunction led, some time not. I finally figured out not to place phone on keys or music desk. Good luck everyone, keep playing.

I have had an N2 for 11 years. Luckily without any discernible issues and I play it almost all the time.

I have always preferred Kawai Novus series over Yamaha, Although I have heard of an issue like this in the past, it's so rare to see a malfunction of this sort on the Kawai Hybrids. The Novus 10s is an amazing hybrid that literally has the same Millenium 3 action from the GX- series of Grand Pianos. Overall, in my opinion, if you want a great quality Piano(digital,hybrid or acoustic) Kawai is the brand to go for. If you want a great quality Jet Ski, go with Yamaha. Kawai only makes piano products, and they are great at it.

Just putting this out there that I have owned my AvantGrand N1 since 2016 and haven’t had any issues. But we have to be prepared for things to wear and break etc. I can understand it’s frustrating but as for the commenters saying they will completely boycott them is rather silly. Kawai and other hybrid pianos have the same capacity for failure. Also yours is the only video I have ever seen, so it’s not that they are falling apart all over the place. Glad you’ve managed to get it fixed tho bet that’s a relief, and like others have pointed out best make sure the new parts are covered by their own warranty

I'm so sorry to hear that. That sounds like to every pianists nightmare! I have an AnantGrand myself- an N3, and I love it. For years I was pianist/singer with The James Last Orchestra and he rented one for me to play on every tour. That's how I learned about it in the first place. I see that you posted this 11 months ago. I only hope that since then you have found a solution! Frankly, I'm shocked that your dealer didn't immediately take it back and give you a new one! Kind regards, Joe Dorff.

I don't know how old that piano is but the newer models in the industry definitely offer things we couldn't see back in the day for way cheaper, so im glad that is a thing nowadays

I guess the items like an AvantGrand , and other similar items come with , what I call , ‘Furniture Appeal ‘ But for me … as a musician … my priority is for a fine playing & sounding instrument . And because I like to record at home … sound & playability is EVERYTHING ‘Furniture Appeal’ is last in my mind … if any … It don’t mean a thing … to me ….. if an instrument doesn’t ‘swing’ ….. (if it doesn’t play well & sounds good ) Maybe just simply have the ‘internal ‘ aspects changed out by some other technician who’s not gonna rip you off …. Or if you might be a bit able to yourself … just change the midi strip to a more simpler & reliable midi strip … But for what they want you to pay … I agree with you …. To stop 🛑 while you’re ahead & look for better option

I have the Clavinova 645 and can only recommend it. For me still the best "e-grand-piano" out there.

Thank you very much for this post. If you have not done so already, might I suggest that you look at what Merriam Music stated in January 2023 about the longevity of digital pianos. While the whole of MM's post is generally relevant there are a couple of points which might be especially relevant to your case: 1. Given that the N2 is, as MM state, at the top end of digital pianos out there, then it would have been expected with normal use to have given you 10-15 years of trouble-free use (MM's estimate, not mine). With the actual very low usage in your case then one can assume that in effect you have had the equivalent of only one or two years of normal use (though if you left the piano switched on at the mains then even when the N2 was not in use and switched on at the keyboard, one conjectures that some degradation particularly of the electronic parts could still have occurred over the time the piano was 'not in use' (presumably you got your N2 c. 2009/10?). 2. In regard to the failure of the motherboard and other electrical parts of the instrument MM state: "When the motherboard or sensors will fail is fairly unpredictable, but we do find that these can fail with minimal use, but overall, this tends to occur at a very low percentage. Most manufacturers will have some type of fail rate on their electronics within a range of about 0.5% up to 2% or so." This suggests the possibility that your N2 might be/may have been part of the 'up to 2%' which fail, in other words part of the 'lemon' category. I hope the above is useful to you. Best wishes. P.S. By the way, you might be interested to learn that from my own standpoint your cautionary tale is timely: I am and have been the owner of digital pianos over the last 13 years, including an N2, an N3x, a Roland FP90x and currently a Roland LX708. I am currently considering upgrading to a Roland GP-9 (part of a new GP series comprising also the GP-3 and GP-6, which was released earlier this year and which has only just become available at dealer level). However, in my case I use the piano for at least a few hours daily and want my next instrument to last for a good 20+ years, not even partly because of an investment of money criterion but because I want some stability in the action of the piano that I use, whether that be a digital or an acoustic. So, like yourself I am now considering whether a used acoustic grand piano (in my case retrofitted with a good silent system which can be used as a digital option to the use of the same piano in its normal acoustic mode) might be a better fit with my criteria than the Roland GP-9. Though the latter comes with a 10-year warranty that will be of little consolation to me if the specific digital model I would get subsequently proves to fall within the up to 2% category that MM have mentioned.

Our church piano, a Yamaha Clavinova CVP 609 in 2015, 7 years later in 2022 we started to have issues of dead notes. The service tech replaced a couple of the flexible digital circuit plates that interface with the keys, one per octave. Cost $400 NZD. Considering the use it got, we thought that was OK.

Most likely sensor issue. Assuming they have optical sensors for measuring key velocity etc, right? Not sure if those sorts of sensors are guarded against dust etc. I think heaps of people have an N2 - and at the moment, there doesn't appear to be similar reports of the same issue online etc. That is - not a 'common' or widespread issue. So Yamaha should really get stuck into it. As in - they get the physical unit to a technician that actually knows what they're doing. And identify the issue, and then proceed to fix it. And 0:36 - I'm sure the N2 sounds as good as analog/acoustic piano. Depends on what sort of music is being played. And I'm sure if played well, it's going to sound excellent - as good as an acoustic piano. I'm confident that if I were to play it - then it's going to definitely sound as good as any acoustic piano.

Pianist/piano teacher here. I'd say never spend more than a grand on a digital piano, unless you want a beautiful piece of furniture. The sound and action might not be as great as a flagship model, but its perfectly fine. As for acoustic pianos I'd say check a used Yamaha U3. They are fantastic and with some maintenance will play for many decades.

Sorry, about your bad experience. Many subscribers ,like me, are still wondering how much money they changed you. Had have an N1X; it is two years old; so far no problems.

I had one of the first generation Yamaha Clavinovas when they came out , and while under warranty the action was so poor, you couldn't play rapid repeated notes. Yamaha had addressed the problem at the time and sent a technician out to replace all 88 leaf springs that were the action problem... It was an ok instrument and expensive even at that time .... but the memory was so limited that you could here this little digital sizzle as notes trailed off ... That being said , it still surpassed , at least in sound anyway a basic spinet home piano. Years later while working I bought a Kurzweil SP88X stage piano . I Loved everything about the piano .... the samples were second to none, and the action was perfect ... There was nothing I could play to trip it up . I'm not sure but I had heard that Fatar had a hand in the design of the action part of the board. I liked this piano so much , I bought one for home, already had a nice 3 way left, right, center , stereo setup , cabinets with 15's in them , and the sound was absolutely amazing ..... I'm still playing it today with no real desire to move on. I paid between $600-700 for it , and it just blows away other digital as well as many consoles, .... forget spines totally ....!! It has samples from a 9 ft. Grand in it ... A friend of mine, wanted my help in buying a med. Size Yamaha baby grand..... Nice piece of furniture, got one with a nice bright tone ... Feel was stiff but friendly... $15,000. ..... Couldn't wait to get home to play the Kurzweil right after the baby grand ..... And was Very Pleased with my purchase !!! It just sounds and feels amazing !

I had a similar thing happen to me. I bought a Yamaha Clavinova for $7000 in 2001. In 2018 is started to have static crackling sounds. I got a partial repair but it started up again. Long story short, it could not be fixed (I believe bad capacitors that leaked). I suppose 17 years is good for an electronic/ computer device. But never again will I get locked into a “nice cabinet” piano. Only stage-type pianos around $1000-1500.

Hybrids aren’t there yet. Give another decade for them to sort it out. Kawai NV5 also has issues.

Well I was considering paying nearly $20k for the n3x instead of getting a c7 because of how big c7s are. Glad I saw this video. Thanks. Yamaha should have done the right thing here and replaced their clearly defective unit. Seeing how many have viewed this video, not only did they lose my purchase after this video It’s clear there’s probably a few hundred grand easy in lost sales. Yamaha marketing team better get with it. Epic fail.

waiting "for 2 weeks to get the repair bill because the guy at Yamaha who knows what the parts cost is on vacation" is something unbelievable. I mean, it is Yamaha, a multimega international corporation, they own now Bossendorfer, and the price and the bills depennd on just one guy. Thanks for sharing your experiance with this instrument and Yamaha. We know now how Yamaha responds when the instruments fail.

The only problem I can imagine right now are some worn rubber contacts which make the contact with a PCB. These rubbers have a conductive layer underneath, usualy made of carbon. Over time, this layer can wear out. They should be fairly cheap and easy to replace.

This is disappointing. I serviced electronics for decades and it was always an effort to get engineers to actually do troubleshooting. Swapping parts to find an issue shows a lack of troubleshooting skills. If the failure is there permnently the issue should be easily tracked with a mukltimeter and oscilloscope. I have a Yamaha digital piano and have been pleased with their service to this point. I wonder if a mom and pop electronics shop, if there is still one in your area, could give it a go. It sounds like a bad soldered connection. These, when intermittent, can cause hair to be pulled out. Yours should be easy to find. Good luck.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but THANK YOU for your advice ✔

I have a now-5 year old Kawai CA97, it's had 3 services due to sticking pads, however I can't fault Kawai's dedication to its 5 year warranty (Sydney Australia). Prompt and as advertised. Sure, having to get it serviced was a little inconvenient but the three services were free and the last one seems to have fixed it permanently. Kawai may have fixed this issue with the CA99, not sure...

If you just recently bought it, you have a warranty to actually return it. They have to take it back. I suggest you get a Yamaha. CVP-909

It’s not just this piano. I sold a Roland HP-605 for a Clavinova CSP-170PE. The thing just isn’t sealed anywhere near as well against dust as the competitors. Design is also flawed as it has cracks in the keyboard cover (it is supposed to be there), that dusk just gets into and you can’t get it out. I will honestly never buy another Piano from Yamaha again, as I tried to trade it in for a better design and they wanted to give me a 3rd of the price I paid for a current model one year old piano.

Hi, have you been able to get a fix for the piano in the meantime? I just found this video by accident and thought i could share my experiences with you. Last week I found an old GT10 for free. The owner had already written it off because of the defective keys and she had already ordered a new digital piano. So she wanted to throw the GT10 away and thought maybe someone could use it after all. Luckily I found it. I was able to fix it yesterday. In my case, I only had to replace the 12 red LEDs that lead to the sensor bar under the keys via the light guide. Apparently, the LEDs lose intensity over time, which gradually leads to keys failing. I don't know if the construction is the same on your model, but I could imagine Yamaha using the same construction in many different hybrid pianos here. Greetings Andy

I'm so sorry you have to go thru this as a Yamaha fan Yamaha should sort you out for you to be happy and in order for them to keep their integrity at no further cost to you since no product is beyond it's backup. Regards Andre SA

you have right on juridical garan. for 10 years.. a piano has to be function for 20 years without problems

Also very disappointed about your experience. I bought my AvantGrand N2 8 years ago and have not experienced any problems with mine. Love it!

So how much was it. It’s been 10 months and no update.

This is very unusual for an "n" series Yamaha Hybrid and I think you're being pretty poorly by your dealer. I've had my N1 for 10 years and have never had an issue with it and its been played very heavily. I hope you get it sorted out for 100's rather than 1000's. It certainly looks like an electronic fault rather than a mechanical one.

For the action Alone , I think it would still be good for something … especially if it may have midi out ports … to trigger external sound sources via midi out port ..

Update July 14, 2023: I ordered parts to repair the piano, and they arrived 8 weeks later to the day. My dealer and Yamaha will attempt to repair it in the next few weeks. I will update here soon to let you know if the repair was sucessful, and how much it cost.

I’ve had my Roland digital piano since 2001 and it’s still perfect. Great action, but the sound is a bit “boxy”. I had a Yamaha digital quite a few years ago which was the top of the range with rhythms and styles etc. Excellent speaker and amp system. Great sound. But.. the action I did not like so I sold it.

I purchased a studiologic sl88, it came with one pedal but also purchased a thre pedal unit and just use software through my laptop. It has hammer action thats great. The keyboard, pedal, and stand cost me just a little over 400 quid. I'm a new player but I am very happy with it.

I recommend anyone looking at digital pianos should really consider getting a Kawai VPC1 instead and using virtual pianos. Honestly it's going to end up cheaper, better sounding, and more future proof.

Your AvantGrand N2 has: Keyboard Action: Specialized Grand Piano Action You probably bought it for that "Specialized" Grand Piano Action Unique feature of the N2 is the "Specialized" Grand Piano Action of the keys, which gives you a very exact like a real piano key action, but it is complicated and not very durable. Its Amplifier is no very strong, but with a high fidelity tree way system. Amplifiers 22 W x 10 + 80 W x 2 three way speaker system (13 cm + 2.5 cm) x 3 + (8 cm + 2.5 cm) + 16 cm x 2 A the tree way speaker system has a base + a middletone + a hightone speaker A two way speaker system has a widerange-middletone + a hightone speaker Three way speaker systems have usually better base, than a two way system-. My CSP 170 has only a two way speaker system, it sounds good, but if you compare it side by side with a N2, the N2 will sound better. Alternatives with three way speaker system similar or better than N2: CVP-809 /arranger piano with many (1,605 !) voices and functions Keyboard Action: GrandTouch Keyboard: wooden keys synthetic ebony and ivory key tops, escapement MSRP: $14,499.00 Amplifiers (40W + 30W + 20W) × 2 + 80W Speakers (16 cm + 5 cm + 2.5 cm (dome)) × 2 + 20 cm, Spruce Cone Speaker, Twisted Flare Port tree way speaker system Number of Preset Styles 675 1,605 Voices + 58 Drum/SFX Kits + 480 XG Voices 82 kg (180 lb, 12 oz) CLP-785 Normal Digital Piano with 53 voices GrandTouch keyboard features wooden keys MSRP: $6,899.00- (50 W + 50 W + 50 W) x 2 (16 cm + 8 cm + 2.5 cm (dome) + transducer) x 2, Spruce Cone Speaker three way speaker system Style (Auto Accompaniment) No Number of Voices 53 voices + 14 Drum/SFX Kits + 480 XG voices 84 kg (185 lb, 3 oz) both CLP-785 and CVP-809 have GrandTouch keyboard (not "Specialized") more durable, but not realistic piano feeling, for my taste good enough, but you should try it at your local dealer, if its good enough for you. Sound quality from the speaker system should be the best on the CLP-785. but the CLP-785 has "only" 53 voices an less functions than the CVP--809 Sound quality of the CVP-809 is somewhat less good in base section, but the CVP-series has the most functions in terms of accompaniment styles and number (1605) of different voices (piano, guitar and all you can imagine, on the CVP-809 you get unbelievable many additional instruments in one piano). Sound quality of my CSP 170 is somewhat less good than CVP-809, but it is cheaper and it has a lot of fuctions and voices too. 692 Voices + 29 Drum/SFX Kits 14 VRM Voices, 113 Super Articulation Voices, 27 Natural! Voices, 27 Sweet! Voices, 63 Cool! Voices, 69 Live! Voices, 30 Organ Flutes! Featured Styles 396 Pro Styles, 34 Session Styles, 4 Free Play Styles, 36 Pianist Styles Amplifiers (45 W + 45 W) × 2 two way speaker system (16 cm + 8 cm) ×2 I DONT recommend the even cheaper CVP-701 because it has a very weak speaker system. if you want CVP series with lots of functions and voices, choose CVP800 or higher for the better speaker system. If you dont want many functions but best speaker system choose CLP series but not the lower price CLP-745 (two way speaker system), rather choose the CLP-785 (tree way speaker system) or higher.

Sorry to hear of your experience on many levels. Not least, given the less than great experience you've had with this instrument but the surprise and disappointment at the lack of the company's ability to reach out to you and compromise about the cost of repairs. It's their instrument that has let you down, it's not like you took a hammer to it (Excuse the pun!) As with anything, it can go wrong epecially things or indeed pianos with chips inside. In the first instance I would contact their afters sales department and let them know one of their pianos is faulty and the best reputable place near you to have it repaired. Any decent Yam rep should be all over it like a rash as it's the company's reputation that's at stake. Yes, they could fob you off but in a market saturated with products of a similar vein and competitors just waiting to knock you off your perch, bad press is not good for business or a good look. I would suspect that there many reasons why a person may want to buy a hybrid piano. Just because a person might not be able to play like Chopin right now should not deter them from getting one. In fact. there are many wonderful pianists who have them specifically because they are hybrid or silent. The hybrid piano or the AnyTime ATX range is a considered purchase for most but for some pianists while there maybe numerouse reaons to have one, key action, space and lifestyle tend to be at the top of the list for getting one. The Kawai VPC1 I think as others have mentioned is for the keyboard purist. It would be great to see the action of MP11 SE inside it one day because I think it just shades it action-wise but then that would make it more expensive and even heavier. The VPC1 whilst not outrageously expensive, is not exactly cheap either. That said, it's been around a while and I think pianists, composers and songwrighters would welcome and be willing to pay for a significant and long overdue upgrade if and when it's available. Please don't give up hope, I feel there is someone out there who can steer you in the right direction. Hopefully, it will be something small that can save you a small fortune or having to shell out more money on another instrument. I hope someone sees your upload and can be the light at the end of your currently dark tunnel. Wishing you all the best in your efforts.

Basicly, it is always better to buy an acoustic piano. It's possible to buy a silent piano if there are troubles with neighbours.

Oh and by the way, Roland gives you a 10 year bumper to Bumper warranty on their HP line and above.

This message is for 'deckardwill' - who posted in 'PW' regarding this vid. My comment is - even 'people' have failures in their body sometimes - through no fault of their own, or anybody. If the issue is at least fixable, then that is good. In this case - in the hands of the 'real' expert at Yamaha, where the unit gets shipped properly to Yamaha, then I'm sure that the issue will become identified, and resolved.

I was very disappointed after a few years of owning a digital piano ... You ASSUME that it will be cheaper in the long run, because you don't need to tune it, etc. Then I discovered this sort of thing happens that you described in this video. Little rubber mats similar to those used for the rubber keys of calculators seem to have a limitation in their life span and cleaning them or replacing them is either expensive or quite a laborious task.The bottom line is that digital pianos have lots of flaws that show after time, like those contact points failing and you might not have to pay as much as what you pay for a nice acoustic piano, but in the long run digital pianos also have flaws in their design from the point of view that they will be a better investment than some acoustic pianos. And let's face it, there's nothing more majestic than playing a real grand piano

I disassembled at my own risk, my 88 keys Kronos and took out all keys, key by key until I get it right. I did the same with an old Yamaha organ that had some keys with poor contact. After I did it including potentiometers everything is playing as brand new for 0$ on the Yamaha. I would open the piano keybed myself until I understood was is going on...

I have had some good experiences with Yamaha customer service before in the past …. I don’t know if things might have gone down during the massive Pandemic situation . And I wonder if the local dealers and sellers are behaving z Badly … or if Yamaha is falling down (which I hope doesn’t happen 🙏🏽) But money is money … No one investing & spending the kind of money these products cost should have to go through this horrible night mere in day time

Thanks for warning, did they rebate you for parts and service you paid?

I'm used to Clavinovas failing after 5-6 years - my old CLP-440 is just starting to go, and my 200 series got about the same life prior to that. But this costs thousands more, so I'd expect it to last. A properly maintained acoustic is probably still the way to go for longevity.

So much money to pay for disappointment.... and they say after that Nords are too expensive. Nord Piano 5 + granny's old good upright Petrof from the middle of the 80s - that's the perfect combination for me🙂

Thank you for the warning. That DOES seem like a strange design indeed. There should also be some REALLY GOOD digital pianos for less than that price for parts.

Strange. Good to know. I have a digital Roland for 22 years already. Never problems.

You could try a Yamaha or Kawai Silent Piano instead. They are proper a ousting pianos but when you slide the middle pedal to the left it puts it into digital mode and puts up a barrier to stop the hammers hitting the strings and you can then play it silently using headphones, or without if it has an in built-in speaker!

I had the same issues with my Kawai NV5. After many months it was finally fixed for free... but now the control screen is sometimes glitchy. I love the piano though.

I can imagine why some one may want to buy an instrument like an AvantGrand … because it’s getting a grand piano action in a piano the size of an upright or less … Space efficiency … etc .. .. if one may not have space for a baby grand even …. Etc…. Plus a selling point also is one never having to get it tuned etc …. Being it’s sound source is digital .. … (though the action might need regulating periodically ) But it’s a living nightmare if there are problems like what you’ve encountered.. Because no acoustic grand or upright piano would ever cost thousands of dollars to tune & regulate …. (Unless a piano would need to be restored after many long years …. )

I am so sorry this happened to you. had the same thing happen to me. It was apparently a defect from the factory. Although they covered it under warranty, the bill would have been several thousand dollars. Yamaha took care of me. I play it a couple of hours per day every day. I have had no problem with it since. I made a video of the repair. I love this piano, although I think Yamaha could use a Lean Six Sigma quality process to ensure these things don’t happen in the first place.

I have the same bad experience on digital Yamaha piano. Actually I was told by friends there were a lot of problems experienced by the owners. Finally they changed back to analog piano and using muffler at night time.

i already put a deposit for NU1X hybrid and the guy told me that there's a five years free maintenance parts and labor...thanks for the warning...looks like i have to trade it in every five years....pretty sure it'll be much better than my previous ones

Every digital piano that I have owned eventually glitched after many hours of practice. I finally decided to get an acoustic. In ten years, a digital piano is worn out and obsolete. In those same ten years, an acoustic piano is just getting started in its service life.

You could buy a new electric keyboard for that price. $4,000 for parts? That's insane!!

I'm a Yamaha tech and any tech worth his salt would be able to put an oscilloscope into the key action / key contact circuitry and see exactly where the fault is.

$3,000.00 for parts? How much was the Yamaha in the first place. Yamaha is supposed to be a reputable company.

Don't these pianos come with 5 year warranty? or 10? It's sad that a brand like Yamaha takes that long to repair it. Was it under warranty? Why did they ask you to pay for it? Please tell me as I also want to buy one of these pianos and I need to know if Yamaha has bad quality and does not stand by their warranty. It would also help everybody. Don't fear Yamaha. They should build their reputation if it gets damaged by truth. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you very much. Was trying to decide between this and an acoustic. Now I know!!

Yeah, you may get the worst of the 2 worlds, acoustic and digital. I would stick either with a very good weighted digital or a very good acoustic (which requires a lot more of continuous maintenance, obviously) 🙂 I am glad to hear that for the moment it has been fixed. Happy playing!

Yamaha should pay for this.

1:52 yea, that's really not how it should work...I would expect a serious dealer to come, take the piano and then AFTER they verified exactly what parts need to be changed they should tell you the exact estimated cost, and THEN you could decide if it's worth it or not. There's no way I'm gonna pay for something without even being sure it'll fix the issues. That's also kinda scummy in my opinion. I would also send a formal complaint to Yamaha about it. Good luck with your next piano ;)

Sorry to hear of your digital issues but it's not just Yamaha. I have a problem with my Roland Aerophone AE20 (and know, through an aerophone forum that I am not alone with this issue!) and the retailer doesn't want to know even though it is still within it's 30 days 'no quibble' guarantee!! The reason for this is my original one developed a fault, got replaced, no.2 just simply did not function as my 1st (as in responsiveness and dynamics). I got sent no.3 and this now has 'intermittent' issues. I have been on Rolands website and their only suggestion is players may be accidentally touching other keys whilst playing!!! Talk about 'washing ones hands' of a well known issue. Shame on these mega brands whose only concern is the initial sale; any probs after that - you're on your own!! Good luck with you analogue piano; best wishes from UK.

They should replace it or take it back and refund your money. No arguments.

How despicable that any company would fail to stand behind their product like this. I was seriously considering an N2 or N3X. I won't consider one now. I'm sorry you have to endure such poor service. So disheartening.

I’ve had an N3 for several years and not a single glitch. Sorry about urs.

That's so bad. I'm sorry to hear that. You would think they would want to ensure a good reputation

Get a Kawai Novus 5s or 10s. They are so good.

I’ve been considering buying the nux1 and found this video when searching for repair info. I will consider getting an acoustic piano or just a chap stage piano now. Thanks and hope it gets repaired economically in the end.

I bought this used car 5 years ago and now it needs thousands of dollars of parts. Come on, it's sad that it is messed up, but it isn't like it's new. There are MANY satisfied Yamaha Avantgrand owners. I'm one of them. And this CANNOT be compared to a 100% digital piano. It has an actual acoustic grand action in it. Those have to be regulated from time to time.

$12,000 for a digital piano that breaks down in a few years?

I'm sorry you've had such an awful experience. I guess it comes down to lazy/inexperienced/inadequate technicians, more than anything. My YDP-164 had this exact problem. Spoke to Yamaha, they gave me the number of a fantastic technician, Tony. Tony came down with the part he knew I needed, which was a new sensor strip, popped it in, played a bit and left, no hassle. Yamaha isn't always this bad, although, I can fully understand why you might not want to buy from Yamaha again. I hope people know that this isn't a very common occurrence, and I hope this alone doesn't put you off buying a Yamaha, as they are truly wonderful digital pianos.

Thanks for the warning.

Very sorry for your misfortune espcially considering the price. On the other hand the vast majority of these pianos are dead reliable. As a matter of fact, pianos of other brands have the same amount of problems. The real problem is your dealer.s inhability to service your product. The title of your video should have been: Don't buy a piano from Tom Lee Music.

I got a NU1X months ago. When a Yamaha guy came for updating firmware, he told me a number of small things i must pay attention. For example, do not use the Yamaha piano key cover (red one) which is NOT for hybrid. beware of roach, dont let them get into hybrid.

SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PIANO BEING LIKE THAT. I WONDER HOW LONG YOU HAVE HAD IT FOR, YOU MAY HAVE SAID BUT IT SHOULDNT BE LIKE THAT WITH NOTES NOT PLAYING. I BOUGHT A KAWAII CA79 PIANO AND IVE HAD IT SINCE 2021 AND ITS STILL FINE EXCEPT FOR THE RECORDER IN IT, NOW AND THEN IT WONT RECORD WHAT IM PLAYING SO I HAVE TO DO A TEST EACH TIME BEFORE I RECORD MY PLAYING TO MAKE SURE ITS GOING TO RECORD FOR ME. I LIKE THE SOUND QUALITY OF MY PIANO. YOUR PIANO IS EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. I LOOKED UP THE PRICE AND IT SAID 22 THOUSAND DOLLARS. MY GOODNESS., MY PIANO WAS A LITTLE LESS THAN 5000 DOLLARS AND YOU CAN GET A DECENT DIGITAL PIANO FOR A LOT LESS THAN THAT. GOOD LUCK, I HOPE IF YOU BUY ANOTHER PIANO IT WILL BE A GOOD ONE FOR YOU.

If you are the original owner and its less then 5 years old arent you covered by the Yamaha Warranty???

Tom Lee Music in Vancouver want me to buy parts for $3000. Shipping takes 5 weeks. Installation is $115 an hour. They say a partial refund for parts not used is possible after they are shipped back to Yamaha; however I have found service form Tom Lee to be less than perfect. I call and email them and they often don't respond. It would be months before a repair was attempted, and much longer to get any theoretical partial refund, and at this point I am not confident the repair would work or that it would last. I guess I am just going to cut my losses and move on. It is a terrible shame to have to now pay to send this expensive piano to a landfill. I fell for the marketing hype. Buyer beware.

Again ….. I can totally understand why you out up this posting . And I definitely sympathize with you on that issue . Those pianos a very costly …. Too costly to be giving such problems you have encountered , and for you to be treated the way that you are treated is an additional DISGRACE YANAHA has been putting out quality products for ever , since their existence . But things have gone VERY WRONG with their AvantGrands it seems I love Yamaha Disklavier system … But customers deserve way better … as well as YAMAHA itself deserves way better from their own selves …. Their AvantGrands have issues … as did with their previous GrandTouch A customer who can afford an AvantGrand seems as if they could do way better in just buying a quality acoustic piano Yamaha makes , or any other quality piano makers. I customer seems to be paying so much for just furniture & supposedly ‘Functional Art’ . (But in your case … and others … the ‘Art’ & Furniture doesn’t seem to be any longer ‘Functioning ‘

Advice to Yamaha it's either the contact bar or or the mother board. My guess is the contact bar is out of alignment. He should get a non Yamaha repair person that is familiar with electronics in general. It probably doesn't need any parts. They just need to be aligned properly. The keys couldn't be that different from a computer keyboard from an electronic point of view.

By the way … You could just have a midi strip installed (other than what your piano dealers were trying ). DON’T JUNK THE PIANO 🎹 🙏🏽 Maybe install a QRS midi strip installed …

Bought a Kawai CA99 a little over 3 years ago with no problems.

Hello. First of all I would like to say that I love the sound of Yamaha and I have used their products for many years, but lately I have had these kinds of problems. first with my MOX 8 and then with different clavinovas like the CLP-765 GP. Notes that are triggered at maximum volume while you press the sustain pedal or as it happened with the MOX simply stops sounding, having to turn it off and on. I don't know what happens with this brand since they are not cheap products. They say it may be because of the humidity. I don't know but it is very sad that this happens with instruments of this category

Not sure I get the idea behind these hybrids. They seem to be the worst features of each. Price of an acoustic Lifespan of a digital Size and weight of an acoustic Audio quality of a digital

wow,sorry for your troubles.Thanks for posting this.I think these so called Hybrid ,are much too expensive.The companies are interested in sales and do their best to make people think these digitals are too well made to fail.The Hybrid is a marketing tool i think,they are still just digital pianos with a better keybed.IMHO digitals are useful just for the stage.Acoustics are much better for home pianos.Where electronics are involved just too many things can go wrong.A simple 500dollar portable piano is ok,but i wouldnt spend serious money on a digital.

These Avantgrand pianos are very good but their mechanics have too many parts. I prefer simpler hybrids like the Casio GP510 or Kawai. It is important to check where you live for Yamaha service. Digital pianos have to be good and durable and not complicated.