Yamaha, did they first make audio or motor products?

Question

I've known Yamaha for years to be a motor company. It wasn't until just recently i received an amp for my electric guitar from a friend. The reason i even thought to ask this question is that the Yamaha emblem appears to consist of tuning forks, which of course leads one to think of sound.

Answer 1

The don't have wrenches on their pianos, but they have tuning fork on their motorcycles.

Answer 2

Musical instruments is what they are most famous for

Answer 3

Yamaha started out making reed organs in 1888 then went on to making pianos & other musical instruments.

They didn't start motorbike manufacture until 1955 or thereabouts.

Answer 4

audio / music equipment first

Answer 5

The 3 tuning forks which together form the world famous logo of Yamaha are a silent reminder to their musical beginnings.

Yes ! Yamaha was a piano manufacturer in the good old days when they were made meticulously of fine grain wood.  These instruments needed to be tuned regularly to maintain the correct note.  In order to tune these pianos an instrument know as the tuning fork was often used in conjunction with a finely developed ear for the correct notes.

Yamaha still continues with this age old tradition of manufacturing pianos.  However it also makes a lot of other electronic instruments as well.  The motorcycle venture came much later but the official symbol remained the same.