Steinway & Sons 45-inch Professional’s Piano.

  The Steinway & Sons reputation has been established around the world on concert stages, by Concert Grands. The vertical, however, is an integral part of Steinway history and tradition. Most piano technicians consider a tall 45” upright piano to be a better value than most small grands. It certainly has lengthier strings and a larger soundboard. Both contribute to a bigger tone and longer sustain. The company began building vertical “cottage pianos” well over a century ago and today the vertical is a significant part of Steinway’s production. In the 19^th century parlor, in the 20^th century apartment and conservatory practice room, the need for a fine upright piano has always existed. A piano built in the Steinway & Sons tradition which takes up less space than a grand piano and still offers the best qualities of tone and touch which have become the Steinway hallmark. The Steinway upright piano is every inch a Steinway. It is built by the same men, in the same plant, of the same materials as a Steinway & Sons Grand.

This Steinway model 45 studio upright piano was purchased brand new at the original Albuquerque Steinway & Sons Authorized dealership, Reidling Music in 1978. It lived in a beautiful home in Albuquerque then moved to Corrales in 1999 where it had lived since. It is in excellent condition – structurally and aesthetically, and we will be happy to offer a two-year warranty. Because it has lived its entire life in this unique climate it is happily acclimated and well-adjusted, and ought to offer the new owner decades of musical joy and gratification. We have thoroughly cleaned the interior, regulated the piano-action, inspected the structural integrity for strength in the vital areas like the soundboard, bridges and pinblock then brought the pitch to A-440. The piano is ready for a serious player, a music school or a recording studio. We have priced it very attractively, so hurry, it won’t last!

The model 45 also features the Steinway patented Accelerated Action™ (Patented 1936), enhancing the action to respond to the touch instead of being forced into action. Laboratory tests have proven that the keys on a Steinway can repeat 13% more quickly than any other piano. The same features that allow this faster repeat also provide a much more sensitive, responsive keyboard, an aspect that can be appreciated even by beginning pianists. The keys are made of Bavarian spruce. The quarter-sawn maple action parts are mounted on a Steinway Metallic Action Frame™ (Patented 1868 and 1875), which consists of a seamless brass tube with rosette-shaped contours, force fitted with maple dowels and brass hangers to assure the stability of the regulation. The model K also features a pedal normally only found on grand pianos, the true Sostenuto™ (Patented 1874) pedal. It is the middle pedal and it allows the pianists to determine which keys they want to resonate and sound, and those they want to dampen and not sound.

The Steinway model 45 upright piano has the same Diaphragmatic Soundboard™ (Patented 1936) as their grands where during manufacturing, far more fine Sitka spruce is left on the floor than actually goes into the soundboard. The craftsmen expertly locate the very best cuts and discard the rest. The soundboard is considered to be the soul of the piano. The model 45 features the same Hexagrip Pinblock™ (Patented 1963) too. It is made by laminating seven layers of Canadian hardrock maple in a staggered grain formation. Each subsequent layer of the lamination offsets the grain angle by 45 to 90 degrees. The result is an even distribution of grain direction throughout the pinblock. This ensures that at least one layer has its grain directly in line with the stress acting on the pin. This technique allows the tuner to place the pin in the exact optimal location for a true “Concert Tuning”. That is the secret to how Steinway’s are able to maintain their world-renowned sound far beyond their last tuning.

The hammers and damper felts have a minimal amount of wear.

Excellent starter piano or Modern furniture design piece.

  The “Modern” furniture style of this Janssen console piano is rooted in the mid-century era and is often referred to as “Mid-century Modern Furniture”. The piano was built in 1958, and by current attitudes it definitely has a retro vibe. The “Modernism Movement” heavily influenced this design. The style is characterized by clean lines and minimalism, born out by this piano’s severe unadorned rectangular-shaped sides and strongly geometrical front panels. It’s neutral and simple flat black lacquer finish is sleek and exudes timeless elegance. There is also a focus on diverse materials and a mix of materials in this style. The piano has solid brass legs and supports, free of any unnecessary embellishments and the bench legs have brass ferrules. The music rack has an inlaid brass mesh pattern. The Modern style also has an aspect of practicality and functionality in mind. This piano’s functional component is an electric lamp mounted below the music rack to illuminate the book or sheet music the pianist is performing. Otherwise, a separate music lamp would need to be added and how would that be practical? Enjoy the sleek aesthetics of modern design in this musical instrument!

Compact apartment piano.

“A good used piano”. That is an apt description of this instrument. It would be ideal for a beginner’s first, inexpensive piano as they embark on the exciting journey of learning music. We will be happy to take it back on trade for a full reimbursement toward a better piano later when the pianists skills evolve, and they have grown out of it. It also has the benefit of its compact size. This piano was built in 1958 though in piano-years it is much younger, having been played sparingly. It has been more of a piece of décor than a working piano. It has lived in Albuquerque for decades, so it is happily acclimated to our unique climate and won’t have any service issues. There is minimal wear on the hammers and damper felts plus the other moving action parts, for its age. The structural integrity is excellent, including the soundboard and bridges. All of the tuning pins are tight. It spent a week in our restoration shop and received the normal tuning, minor action regulations and thorough cleaning of the interior. We are happy to offer a two-year warranty. The original matching bench is included. Complimentary local, first-story professional delivery is also included.

Music lamp mounted under the music rack.

48-inch Professional Upright Piano in Polished Mahogany.

  A surprisingly good tone quality for a piano with very little name recognition. We were a little shocked when we first played it. The bass response is robust and clear. The tenor is warm and rich. The treble sings with a bell-like quality and substantial tone. The tone quality (timbre) is center-mellow. The sustain or duration of tone is lengthy and not percussive. The dynamic range is wide permitting quieter pianissimos and louder fortissimos allowing the pianist to play more expressively and emotively. This Steinbach model MP-122 studio upright is known as a “Stencil piano”. It was built by the Pearl River piano company but it’s unclear who the distributor is that ordered the Steinbach piano product line.

Excellent condition – structurally and aesthetically.

This beautiful instrument was barely played by the previous owners who considered it to be the elegant focal point of their formal living room. For that reason, there is minimal wear in the piano-action, trapwork and other moving parts. It is in excellent condition, structurally and aesthetically. It should provide many more decades of musical enjoyment. We will be happy to offer a two-year warranty. It came to us needing very little in the way of piano dealer prep in our 88 Keys Piano restoration shop. We cleaned it thoroughly, regulated and tightened the piano-action and tuned with only a slight pitch correction.

Pearl River today, is the largest and best-selling piano manufacturer in the world and they have the largest market share in retail sales worldwide. They produce 150,000 pianos annually and are sold in 112 countries. Pearl River dominates the Chinese market share with 40% of all the new pianos purchased. The modern 3.2 million square foot factory is located in Guangzhou, China and employs over 4000 workers. Every single large, small or tiny individual, cataloged part has to be handled by human hands. With over 8500 individual parts in an upright piano, a factory location with lower labor rates is an advantage and provides a better value. Pearl River Piano Group builds their own Ritmuller and handmade Kayserburg pianos as well as pianos for other companies, including the Essex line for Steinway & Sons.

In next to new condition – inside and out.

Excellent construction and quality materials in the piano’s back.

Steinway & Sons Semi-concert Grand Piano.

The perfect piano design?

  Behold the splendor of this 19-th century museum piece handmade by the Steinway & Sons family who had a role in every step of the process! It is covered in premium South American Rosewood probably harvested in Brazil. Later on these piano finishes became part of their Crown Jewell Collection of luxury pianos. The standard Steinway & Sons piano is ebonized in black – either satin or polished. It was designed with an 85-key seven-octave compass, starting and ending on A-natural, not 88 keys like today. During this time, they were transitioning from the 7 to 7-1/3 octave keyboard compass. The two longer models in the line, C (7”-5”) and D (8’-10”) had already moved to the new keyboard making this one of the last 85-key pianos Steinway built.

“The Instrument of the Immortals“.

The best of both worlds – a common question is whether it is preferable to buy a new Steinway & Sons piano or a preowned one. Or, is a fully rebuilt instrument better than a new one? This 1879 Steinway model B grand piano was built during Steinway’s “Golden era” and is one of the finest musical instruments ever crafted in human history. It was originally built by the 2nd-generation Steinway family in their New York City factory. This was solidly in the Victorian Era in England that was known for its beautiful architecture, advancement of engineering and technology, and exotic furniture and fashion design. Some of these design elements made it “across the pond” and into American manufacturers who were building upscale and interesting pianos.

The piano was completely restored recently, including receiving a new soundboard which is beyond the normal scope of a restoration. A sizable number of musicians and piano technicians believe a fully rebuilt “vintage” Steinway sounds better than a new one. Also, owning a historical piece of Americana can certainly be romantic and alluring. It isn’t a secret that preowned Steinway & Sons pianos that have been professionally restored are the biggest competition to the sale of exorbitantly priced brand new models.

The early history of Steinway & Sons is fascinating, and is intimately connected to the history of New York City.

This model B features the classic “Steinway sound”, having a strong, singing treble, a resonant tenor mid-range and a powerful bass, rich in high harmonics. With richness, depth and power, it radiates plenty of tonal color. It is due to their combination of harmonics that distinguishes Steinways from other makers. The duration of tone (sustain time) is lengthy, which enables legato phrases to be performed musically. The dynamic range is wide, allowing the pianist to play expressively and emotively. It is neither overly mellow and dull or overly bright and tinny. The mid-treble, where most of the melody lines are played “sings” and doesn’t disappear under the background of an accompaniment. It has the power that most pianos aspire to but not the brash “loudness” that often results.

Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of the royal warrant; thus lending prestige to the supplier. In 1890, Steinway received their first Royal Warrant. It was from Queen Victoria of England and later by the Prince of Wales. In subsequent years Steinway was granted royal and imperial warrants from the rulers of Italy, Norway, Persia, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey.

The Steinway & Sons infamous WW-1 soundboard decal

Manufacturers by Appointment to:

His Majesty William II – German Emperor & King of Prussia

His Majesty Edward VII – King of Great Britain & Emperor of India

His Majesty Nicholas II – Czar of Russia

His Majesty Umberto I – King of Italy

His Majesty Alfonzo XIII – King of Spain

His Majesty Albert – King of Saxony

His Majesty Franz Joseph I – Emperor of Austria & King of Hungary

Her Majesty Maud – Queen of Norway

His Majesty Oscar II – King of Sweden

His Majesty Abdul Hamid II – Sultan of Turkey

And other Distinguished Royalties.

The Steinway & Sons grand piano action, with its 12,116 individual parts is the vanguard of piano actions. Steinway held most of the patents issued to piano manufacturers for action improvements including the exclusive “Accelerated Action”, which increases the speed of repetition. The patented Tubular Metallic action frame maintains proper alignment of the thousands of action parts. A grand piano-action regulation requires 24 separate adjustments per key. Our talented 88 Keys piano-technicians who work in our restoration shop have been busy and the piano-action has been well-regulated and ready now for a concert performance.

Steinway & Sons is the piano that every other is judged by. They are handcrafted and took a full year to build. The Steinway company has held nearly all of the important patents in the industry and until the sale of the company in 1972, the family participated in all of the significant operations of the factory. Steinway is nearly exclusively responsible for improving and modernizing piano manufacturing throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries. In the world of musical instruments, there are pianos – and then there are Steinway & Sons. They enjoy a reputation second to none. Historically, the Steinway model B grand piano is the favorite model of serious classical pianists, recording or teaching studios and small recital halls.

The fallboard protects the precious keys, and the lid protects the internal workings when not in use.