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Trying to identify this vibraphone Kawai D-592-1

shirokuma 22 May 2014

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and site. I apologize in advance if I am posting at the wrong forum or if this question is inappropriate.

My name is Bill and I am a rank beginner when it comes to vibraphones. When I was young (13 or so), I used to bang around on my friends viraphone. However, nothing serious. That being stated, I am not a rank beginner to music. I can read play (albeit so-so) the piano. I like jazz. Due to arthritis, I am thinking about going to a less stressful instrument.

I live in Japan and I have come across a vibraphone for auction. You can see it here:

http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s395762727

Although the page is written in Japanese, there are some detailed photos at the bottom of the page. The vibraphone is labeled as Kawai D-592-1. However, for the life of me, I cannot find anything about this vibraphone on the Internet. I do not know if Kawai even makes vibraphones. It seems that the controller is Saito.

Could this be rebranded? A copy (Deagan 592)?

Does it look in good shape (aside from the some of the scratches and scrapes?

Can one tell if the bars are graded?

I am in no rush to buy a vibraphone. This looks like a deal, if I can get it at the right price.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Bill

Comments

IndianaGlen Thu, 05/22/2014 - 16:56

Bill,

My guess is your vibraphone is a Saito, but I am not 100% certain. It looks very similar to the one in the link below. Not exactly the same but it's close. I do know it is very unlikely a Musser, Yamaha, or Deagan.

The bars are not graduated (graduated is better) Find an picture of a Musser M-55 and you'll be able to notice quite a bit of difference between the width of the low bars and high bars.

If you can afford it, you would be MUCH better off getting a graduated Bar vibe from Musser, Yamaha, Degan. I don't know if the Omega Vibe is available in Japan but that is a good vibe too. There has been a lot of discussion about starting with a cheap vibe, but for both learning and resale a better graduated bar vibe is just better. The only way I would buy one of these if it was REALLY cheap and I had a small child that may or may not stick with playing. Or if it was all I could afford.

http://www.netinstruments.com/vibraphones/vibraphone/saito-cb-700-rotar…

I don't know the market in Japan, however, a guess is that vibe would sell for $500-$800 in the US.

shirokuma Thu, 05/22/2014 - 17:25

Hi Glen,

Many thanks for this information.

The picture you referenced looks like the same thing. I guess, at least in this case, the Kawai brand is rebrended Saito as I have not seen anything on the Kawai homepage (English nor Japanese).

I will let this one pass, there are better ones coming, I am sure.

Thanks again,

Bill

mmazur Fri, 06/27/2014 - 19:15

Hi Bill,

I recently bought a Kawai vibes. The backstory I got was that Kawai issued them as school instruments and subcontracted Saito to build them. Very enchanting tone quality throughout the range. The higher range makes it less suitable for accompanying roles, but very nice for soloing. It folds up small enough to move around the trains on a handcart. The narrow bars take some getting used to, and mine is quite short so I have it up on blocks.

cheers
Mark

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