The Yamaha site says that the YPC-81 is "entirely handmade," for whatever that is worth.

The YPC-62 doesn't include that phrase in its description.

the quality of the wood is not nearly as important as the time put into the instrument. personally, I think that Yamaha has much to do along the improving their piccolos line. I feel as if you can get much more for much less when considering the same type of instrument from another brand. The Burkart-Phelan Global is a prime example of this. Same thing with the Emerson Boston Legacy.

Maybe I'm alone on this??