Im not sure where i read this, somewhere on the net possibly, but i saw that the ypc-32 piccolos by yamaha were being discountinued?! Has any one else heard of this? Just curoious. Do you think the ypc-32 is good for a first piccolo, but could carry someone through college if needed? Thanks!

The 32 is quite a reasonable piccolo.

It is more tricky to service that wood or metal, because the plastic is damaged at such a low temperature. (Keys are heated to adjust the alignment of pads over tone holes.)

I would say that the skill of the player would be the limiting factor for most `casual` piccolo players, rather than limitations with a YPC-32.

BTW, IF an instrument from a major manufacturer is discontinued, it is usually replaced with an equivalent successor.