We might all aspire to owning an acoustic grand piano, but the main issue (after expense) is finding the space to accommodate one. I used to have lessons with a lady who dedicated her entire front room to a baby grand piano, and there was barely the room for anything else in there.
If you want acoustic but don’t have the room for even a baby grand, an upright piano is your next option. Thanks to manufacturers such as Kawai, a high quality yet more compact instrument may be attainable.
Take their latest “Master Series” — a trio of premium upright acoustic pianos; skilfully crafted and luxurious. Highly desirable — and no doubt expensive.
Features
The MS-134, MS-130 and MS-123 feature:
- Millennium III Upright Action
- Ebony black keys and NEOTEX white keys
- The simultaneous use of the muffler mechanism and sostenuto pedal
- Hand-wound bass strings
- Pressure bar and stainless bearing bar
- Lift-up topboard reminiscent of grand pianos
- Bird’s-eye maple sideboards reminiscent of a Shigeru Kawai grand piano
It’s rare for an upright piano to feature both a muffler mechanism and sostenuto pedal, but Kawai has added them both to enhance the playing experience.
The Millennium III Upright Action feature ABS resin materials, providing a level of precision, strength, durability and resistance to environmental changes which cannot be achieved with wood alone. It’s also lightweight, enhancing repetition speed, control, and responsiveness of playing.
The body design has been engineered to enrich tonal depth while ensuring long-term stability. It features reinforced posts and frame construction, a soundboard that amplifies resonance with ideal balance, hand-wound strings identical to those used on Shigeru Kawai grand pianos, and finely-crafted components that enhance string stability.
Specifications
The model number denotes the height of the instrument in centimetres. The lower numbered instruments are slightly smaller and weigh less (though they’re not lightweights).
| MS-134 | MS-130 | MS-123 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size | Height | 134cm(53″) | 130cm(51″) | 123cm(48″) |
| Width | 156cm(61.5″) | 153cm(60″) | 153cm(60″) | |
| Depth | 66cm(26″) | 64cm(25″) | 63cm(25″) | |
| Weight | 332kg(732 lbs) | 313kg(690 lbs) | 261kg(576 lbs) | |
| Touch | White key surfaces | NEOTEX | ||
| Black key surfaces | Ebony | |||
| Action | Millennium III | |||
| Hammer felts | All underfelted | |||
| Sound | Soundboard | Solid Spruce, Tapered | ||
| Speaking length of no.1 string | 1,280 mm | 1,230 mm | 1,200 mm | |
| Cutoff bar | 2 | |||
| Agraffes | 1 – 51 key | – | – | |
| Duplex scaling | Fore & Back | Fore | – | |
| Back posts | 6 | 5 | 5 | |
| Exterior design | Pedals | Soft, Sostenuto, Damper | ||
| Casters | F: Brass Double / R: Brass Single | |||
| Softfall | Yes | |||
| Lock | Yes | |||
| Other features | Muffler handle | |||
| Steel reinforced keyslip & keybed | ||||
Price? Don’t ask…
