Yamaha actually started Young Chang back in the dark days. The third contender (at least was) the SU-118 by Samick. Tuned a good number of those, and the closeness to the Nippon Gakki U-1 was astonishng
Thank you for the information John it’s interesting I didn’t know they setup young Chang would like to learn more if you have any information. Seasons greetings
I actually have a Young Chang U-121 (same model as this) in my house here which I bought as a stop-gap. I chose it because I picked it up for a price I won't mention here. Let's just say it was priced to sell but it's absolutely fine. It does need tuned and there are some quirks in it compared with a Yamaha. I'm not a technician but here are some of the differences I've noticed: The touch is a little bit clunky on the Young Chang. I had to ease off the key bushings at the pin, which is one of the few jobs I know how to do. I need to have it professionally tuned. The touch is good, but it's not as refined as a Yamaha and I suspect that the Young Chang technicians probably worked very quickly and by hand, whereas the Yamaha technicians for forty years have used laser guided equipment to aid regulation and key weighting. The quality of the hammers is good, it has a softer tone than a Yamaha but honestly I want mine needled more if I'm going to keep it. I like a soft attack because it gives me more control over the sound. I'm a Blüthner fan-boy you see.... The sound is generally less projecting than the Yamaha and I think this is not connected with the hammer type, but the construction. There's probably something in the way that the Yamaha soundboard is crowned, or the way the ribs are positioned, or the bridge positioning that is different on the Yamaha. Basically the Young Chang isn't just a copy of a Yamaha, but the pianos of that era were basically Korean built Yamahas. Yamaha asked YC to build upright and grand pianos for them to avoid import charges. At first it was just upright cases and action installation, but over time Young Chang expanded their factory to include action building (at Yamaha's request), and it came to the point where Young Chang were casting the frames, and at that point they decided to put their own name on the piano. The Young Chang design was never the latest Yamaha design, so if you find a Young Chang from the 80s or 90s it is probably a late 60s/early 70s Yamaha design, whereas the Yamaha design is more technologically advanced. The Yamahas from the 60s and 70s have that same kind of weaker sound compared to the newer ones even if they're still quite good pianos.
Thank you Joseph, some really good thoughts here. The bridge, ribs, hammer conversation is one I would love to have with a piano maker or experienced rebuilder, as it seems a mystery to me. My current assumptions are that the skill of shaping the bridge, choice of woods (expense too), the hammer choice, and wire gauge, have a lot to do with it. I believe there are some people that worked at the Baldwin factory still out there, however, it would have to be someone on the bridge/ribs/soundboard area, or perhaps the designer of the bridges and board who could explain the excellence side. Another possible, Walter pianos. I'm on the lookout if anyone knows someone who might be willing to be interviewed. Thanks for your comments. Evan
Imagine two 48" pianos being 48" tall. I'm not sayiing it isn't but I'm not convinced The U-1 is a direct copy. Styling cues and font/logo similarities are just that. Can we talk about scale design, bracing and ribs, bridges, key lengths and action components? At least we didn't go down the rabbit hole of they both have 88 keys.
Those are good points I wills bear the internal bridge and key length measurements as for scaling I will check this too. Thank you for the message. Not structural but sound wise the tone of the U1 was clearer with a more responsive touch. More refined. Evan
I’ve long found the difference interesting and didn’t know some of these details. Yeah the yc just less firm or less piercing in its tone. Would be interesting to know why. With grands it’s often a matter of just less mass, less weight in the bracing and rim. For example Baldwin you hear the maple rim I think, that you don’t get in the cheaper old baby grands. But between these two I’m not aware that the yc is more lightly built. So is it the soundboard, or bridges, or what.
Thank you for your comment Charles. It’s a mystery to me how piano construction changes sound. Thanks for your comments. I do question how the Yamaha has the richer tone. When the U-1 is clearly a copy. As if they took it to the factory measured and made the same piano. Must be knowledge in the rim, ribs and materials? Hammers?
@@RobertsPianosHouston Thanks for your reply, I’ve thought piano designers must be some of the rarest professionals, because so many designs have been around a long time and don’t change. The only one I’ve really had a chance to be in contact with is Del Fandrich, who worked at Baldwin and then designed some later YC pianos, and who has been active on the pianoworld forums. Some tonal differences are intentional of course and some are matters of economy I guess. People are often trying to rank pianos but it’s crazy in many cases because they’re trying to be different brands just like different candy bars. And furthermore voicing and regulation affects tone and perception so much. I agree that Yamaha is more charismatic and maybe richer as you put it. It is louder, and has more body or clarity or assertion. Recently I’ve enjoyed a mini 64 note acoustic piano with maximum two strings per note because I felt it’s allowed me to get in touch with harp kinds of sounds, and see how the designers must have been thinking as pianos evolved from instruments with less bell-like qualities. I’ve not concluded that the best piano is the most bell-like. There are keyboard glockenspiels and celestas for that. But having the energy from the key efficiently create clear sound is a central topic for sure.
I can't remember those specifically, my general experience with Young Chang has been a little more nasal than Yamaha or Kawai, but it can come down to the individual piano if voiced correctly. Evan
I just tuned the exact same model of Young Chang in Kigali this morning. 😊♥
Piano tuning in Kingali sounds super interesting !
Yamaha actually started Young Chang back in the dark days. The third contender (at least was) the SU-118 by Samick. Tuned a good number of those, and the closeness to the Nippon Gakki U-1 was astonishng
Thank you for the information John it’s interesting I didn’t know they setup young Chang would like to learn more if you have any information. Seasons greetings
I actually have a Young Chang U-121 (same model as this) in my house here which I bought as a stop-gap. I chose it because I picked it up for a price I won't mention here. Let's just say it was priced to sell but it's absolutely fine. It does need tuned and there are some quirks in it compared with a Yamaha. I'm not a technician but here are some of the differences I've noticed:
The touch is a little bit clunky on the Young Chang. I had to ease off the key bushings at the pin, which is one of the few jobs I know how to do. I need to have it professionally tuned. The touch is good, but it's not as refined as a Yamaha and I suspect that the Young Chang technicians probably worked very quickly and by hand, whereas the Yamaha technicians for forty years have used laser guided equipment to aid regulation and key weighting.
The quality of the hammers is good, it has a softer tone than a Yamaha but honestly I want mine needled more if I'm going to keep it. I like a soft attack because it gives me more control over the sound. I'm a Blüthner fan-boy you see....
The sound is generally less projecting than the Yamaha and I think this is not connected with the hammer type, but the construction. There's probably something in the way that the Yamaha soundboard is crowned, or the way the ribs are positioned, or the bridge positioning that is different on the Yamaha.
Basically the Young Chang isn't just a copy of a Yamaha, but the pianos of that era were basically Korean built Yamahas. Yamaha asked YC to build upright and grand pianos for them to avoid import charges. At first it was just upright cases and action installation, but over time Young Chang expanded their factory to include action building (at Yamaha's request), and it came to the point where Young Chang were casting the frames, and at that point they decided to put their own name on the piano. The Young Chang design was never the latest Yamaha design, so if you find a Young Chang from the 80s or 90s it is probably a late 60s/early 70s Yamaha design, whereas the Yamaha design is more technologically advanced. The Yamahas from the 60s and 70s have that same kind of weaker sound compared to the newer ones even if they're still quite good pianos.
Thank you Joseph, some really good thoughts here. The bridge, ribs, hammer conversation is one I would love to have with a piano maker or experienced rebuilder, as it seems a mystery to me. My current assumptions are that the skill of shaping the bridge, choice of woods (expense too), the hammer choice, and wire gauge, have a lot to do with it. I believe there are some people that worked at the Baldwin factory still out there, however, it would have to be someone on the bridge/ribs/soundboard area, or perhaps the designer of the bridges and board who could explain the excellence side. Another possible, Walter pianos. I'm on the lookout if anyone knows someone who might be willing to be interviewed. Thanks for your comments. Evan
Thank you for taking the time to make this video :)
Glad to hear it was helpful! I would lean towards the U1 in this situation if you are looking to buy
Imagine two 48" pianos being 48" tall. I'm not sayiing it isn't but I'm not convinced The U-1 is a direct copy. Styling cues and font/logo similarities are just that. Can we talk about scale design, bracing and ribs, bridges, key lengths and action components?
At least we didn't go down the rabbit hole of they both have 88 keys.
Those are good points I wills bear the internal bridge and key length measurements as for scaling I will check this too. Thank you for the message.
Not structural but sound wise the tone of the U1 was clearer with a more responsive touch. More refined.
Evan
I’ve long found the difference interesting and didn’t know some of these details. Yeah the yc just less firm or less piercing in its tone. Would be interesting to know why. With grands it’s often a matter of just less mass, less weight in the bracing and rim. For example Baldwin you hear the maple rim I think, that you don’t get in the cheaper old baby grands. But between these two I’m not aware that the yc is more lightly built. So is it the soundboard, or bridges, or what.
Thank you for your comment Charles. It’s a mystery to me how piano construction changes sound. Thanks for your comments. I do question how the Yamaha has the richer tone. When the U-1 is clearly a copy. As if they took it to the factory measured and made the same piano. Must be knowledge in the rim, ribs and materials? Hammers?
@@RobertsPianosHouston Thanks for your reply, I’ve thought piano designers must be some of the rarest professionals, because so many designs have been around a long time and don’t change. The only one I’ve really had a chance to be in contact with is Del Fandrich, who worked at Baldwin and then designed some later YC pianos, and who has been active on the pianoworld forums. Some tonal differences are intentional of course and some are matters of economy I guess. People are often trying to rank pianos but it’s crazy in many cases because they’re trying to be different brands just like different candy bars. And furthermore voicing and regulation affects tone and perception so much. I agree that Yamaha is more charismatic and maybe richer as you put it. It is louder, and has more body or clarity or assertion. Recently I’ve enjoyed a mini 64 note acoustic piano with maximum two strings per note because I felt it’s allowed me to get in touch with harp kinds of sounds, and see how the designers must have been thinking as pianos evolved from instruments with less bell-like qualities. I’ve not concluded that the best piano is the most bell-like. There are keyboard glockenspiels and celestas for that. But having the energy from the key efficiently create clear sound is a central topic for sure.
hi what piece did you play on the U1?
It’s a theme I came up with it’s not fully composed just a sketch at the moment. Evan
i see you have the young chang 101 model to the right ? how would you say the 121 compares to the 101?
I can't remember those specifically, my general experience with Young Chang has been a little more nasal than Yamaha or Kawai, but it can come down to the individual piano if voiced correctly. Evan
hello, how to know the year of my young chang piano was made?, I´ve looked for inside and outside i´ve found yet...
It might be on the back of the piano if you can safely move it out from against the wall