Point of Origin

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  • #1034
    Alan Brinton
    Participant

    I would guess that more melodicas are made in China than anywhere else. Many are made in Korea and Indonesia. This is true of Japanese. a Suzuki STUDY32 I just bought, for example, has “MADE IN CHINA” stamped on the bottom, and my Yamaha P32D has “MADE BY YAMAHA PRODUCTS INDONESIA.” I’m under the impression that some of these instruments are still made in Japan, however. And you can buy direct from Japan. The Yamaha pianicas can be bought “shipped from Japan” on eBay. On eBay also is the “New YAMAHA P3001-32K Pianica Melodica Keyboard Harmonica from Japan,” which looks just like the Yamaha P-32D, except that it’s black. And the “P3001-32K Kyoritsu Pianica Melodica keyboard harmonica” that looks to be identical to it (also available in blue). Prices are all over the keyboard (pun intended), all higher with delivery charges included, but most within $20-30. On Amazon, Yamaha pianicas can also be ordered shipped from Japan (they say so and it’s reflected in the shipping rate) by Tokyo Marche.

    I suppose if you order one, it might actually arrive from China or Indonesia. But assuming that it will actually come from Japan, I wonder if it will have been assembled and factory tuned in Japan. It seems likely that the parts will come from China or Indonesia, though maybe not. Possibly Japanese buyers insist on MADE IN USA (excuse me, JAPAN). My wife will kill me if another melodica shows up on the doorstep, or I’d probably order one to see what I get. Does anyone know more about this? Would you expect the factory tuning to be better if the melodica was assembled in Japan? Is it reasonable to expect that a melodica shipped from Japan will have been assembled there?

    #1035
    Daren
    Keymaster

    Hi Alan

    As it happens A P37D arrived on my UK doorstep yesterday. It came from Japan. It seems just the same as an earlier one from the US, and still has ‘Made in Indonesia’ on the back. Actually. one reed is slightly slow and needs looking at. other than that, the tuning isn’t too bad. At A=440, many notes are around +10 cents, but there’s quite a few variations, with a couple down to around -7.

    I imagine they’re all assembled where its cheapest to assemble them…

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