Steinway & Sons Living Room Grand Piano.

  A Steinway is built to be your last piano or an excellent reason to buy your last piano first. Few things you will buy in your lifetime will serve you so long, give you so much pleasure and at the same time maintain its value. A Steinway is a lasting investment. The Steinway model L ebony grand piano is a piano that offers abundant volume yet needs little more space than the smaller models. This instrument was purchased originally in 1982 at the Albuquerque Steinway & Sons authorized dealership, Riedling Music. It lived in a lovely home in Santa Fe surrounded by fine art and furnishings for many years, then came to us eight years ago and we placed it in another lovely home. The second owner is relocating now and sadly, can’t take the piano with them to the east coast so we are offering it for sale. Alexander Boggs is the owner of 88 Keys Piano Warehouse. He is a Steinway & Sons certified technician and has trained at the factory in New York twice and has also been the sole tech to service this piano for well over a decade. Alexander would be honored to continue his service with the next owner after the complimentary home tuning takes place. 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. The new owner will enjoy decades of musical joy and gratification with this stately Steinway & Sons piano.

“Strive always to improve the piano.” Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg

This model L features the classic “Steinway sound”, having a strong, singing treble with a clear bell-like tone, a resonant tenor mid-range and a robust bass, rich in high harmonics. It radiates plenty of tonal color with richness, depth and power. It is due to their combination of harmonics that distinguishes a Steinway from other piano makers. The duration of tone (sustain time) is lengthy, enabling legato phrases to be performed more musically. The dynamic range of volume is wide, allowing the pianist to play more expressively and emotively with feeling. The tone quality (timbre) is neither overly mellow and dull or overly bright and tinny. The mid-treble where most of the melodies are played is lively and “sings” and doesn’t disappear under the background of an accompaniment. It has the raw power that most pianos aspire to but not the brash “loudness” that often results. And these are, above all, the reasons why only a Steinway sounds and performs like a Steinway.

2023 model O MSRP – $103,500

2022 model O MSRP – $95,800.

2021 model O MSRP – $90,300.

2020 model O MSRP – $87,600.

The instrument of the Immortals.

All models of Steinway and Sons grand pianos offer a Diaphragmatic Soundboard™ (Patented 1936) where during manufacturing, far more fine Sitka spruce is left on the floor than actually makes it into the soundboard. The craftsmen expertly locate the very best cuts and discard the rest. The Steinway wood-buyer travels across the country to the mills and with an expert eye, selects the very best lumber himself. The soundboard is considered to be the soul of the piano. They also feature the Hexagrip Pinblock™ (Patented 1963). They are constructed 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 grands also feature 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 Steinway grand also features the true Sostenuto™ pedal (Patented 1874). 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 early history of Steinway & Sons is fascinating and is intimately connected to the history of New York City.

Kawai 5’-10” Living Room Grand Piano.

  A pleasing fusion of clarity and complexity, European-inspired and mellow. This is undoubtedly why Steinway & Sons chose this factory to build their high-end Boston line of pianos. Renowned for their expressive tone and dynamic range that allow pianists to communicate with ease, this Kawai model KG-2C Grand Piano plays expressively, accurately and smoothly – like a warm knife through butter. The KG-series of pianos were immensely popular for Kawai here in the US and Canada. They were built in the main factory in Hamamatsu, Japan. The KG-series was re-branded to the RX-series later on and those were also a big hit. The inevitable comparison to Yamaha pianos discloses that the Kawai usually provides more piano for the money. They are normally 2-inches longer for the same model in the line. For instance, in this case the comparable model of Yamaha is only 5′-8″ in length. The additional length enhances the deep bass response, extends the sustain time and builds a little more foundation of tone.

Since 1992, Steinway & Sons has had the Kawai factory in Japan build their very fine Boston line of pianos.

This piano was purchased new in Albuquerque at the long-time Kawai and Steinway & Sons representative, Riedling Music in 1977. It is in excellent condition; structurally and aesthetically. The cabinetry is a warm walnut with a traditional satin finish. We had to do very little in the way of service – mainly a concert tuning and some minor regulating. The previous owner had loved this piano, and they had serviced it faithfully, but they couldn’t take it with them in a move. The original duet bench with storage is included. The middle pedal has a true Sostenuto function. Local, first-floor professional delivery is included.

The tone is European-inspired and mellow; not nearly as bright as some other Japanese manufactured models. Many serious pianists purchase the Kawai KG-series because of their tonal similarities to vastly more expensive Steinway models and the inability to afford them. It has a warmth that is very pleasant. The duration of tone is lengthy and lends itself to classical music. The treble has a nice singing quality. The bass response is excellent given the size of the scale. The overall tone quality is balanced across the compass of the keyboard.

The KG-2C was one of the largest selling pianos in the US at the time.

Hepplewhite designer cabinetry styling.

  The classic heritage of 18th-century England is gracefully preserved in this superb adaptation of the style and embodiment of a master designer. Aside from its qualities as a musical instrument you will appreciate this Hobart M Cable spinet piano for its sheer beauty as an object. The furniture cabinet is finished in a light American cherry wood, and it represents the highest level of cabinetry available. Even the original, matching bench is a work of art. They are both in flawless condition, structurally and aesthetically. The piano was built in the Story & Clark piano factory in Grand Haven, Michigan; the heart of “Furniture Country” due to its numerous furniture factories. Logging and lumber mills thrived there due to the vast forests of diverse timber in the area which included the northern US and Canada. Hardwoods and softwoods were plentiful. A piano is constructed with various and different species of wood, depending on the need or function, whether it be strength, flexibility, density, beauty, uniformity of grain, etc. so the location was an advantage. Today, Story & Clark still exists, and they build America’s very best player-piano systems.

The piano has lived in Albuquerque for decades and it is happily acclimated and well-adjusted to our unique climate, so it ought to provide decades more of musical enjoyment to the new owner. There is minimal wear for its age on the hammers and damper felts, plus the other moving action and trapwork parts. All of the tuning pins are tight so it will hold its tuning. Loose tuning pins are a common problem in our dry and arid climate, and they are costly to repair and can be aggravating for the psyche. It spent two weeks in our restoration shop and received the normal tunings and pitch-raises, minor action regulations and thorough cleaning of the interior. We will be happy to offer a two-year warranty, in-home tuning and professional local, first-floor delivery.

Shown with the two-piece Boston-style fallboard protecting the keys.

Steinway & Sons “Crown Jewel” Collection Grand Piano.

  This 1917 Steinway & Sons model O parlor grand piano is one of the finest musical instruments ever built. It is the largest of Steinway’s “smaller” pianos. This was the golden era of American piano building and Steinway & Sons was the piano that every other was judged by. It is handcrafted and took a full year to build. The Steinway factory held most of the important patents in the industry and the family participated in all of the significant operations. In the world of musical instruments, there are pianos – and then there are Steinway & Sons. The model O features the classic “Steinway sound”; having a strong, singing treble and a powerful bass, rich in high harmonics. The duration of tone (sustain time) is lengthy, which enables legato phrases to be enjoyed. The dynamic range is wide, allowing the pianist to play expressively and emotively. 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. This permits the clarity of tone that Steinway & Sons is well-known for – the ability to clearly hear each individual note played in a chord or group of notes. Otherwise, a “muddy” tone results. This instrument is suitable for the more advanced player, professional pianist or anyone with superior or acute hearing. Any music school, teaching studio and institutional setting would benefit from this piano.

A poignant piece of Steinway & Sons history

The soundboard was in excellent condition surprisingly, requiring no repairs or replacing, so all we needed to do was clean and refinish with fresh lacquer. The original soundboard decal was lost to the refinish but we replaced it with the identical design. It shows the State Seals and Medallions of twelve pre-WW1 countries and kingdoms that owned Steinway & Sons pianos in their palaces, castles or official Houses of Government. After the war ended, some of these governments no longer existed. The factory ceased applying these soundboard decals at this point in deference to these historical changes. The piano was built in 1917 and this important serial number (187812) is one of the very last Steinway & Sons grand pianos to sport this unique decal. Due to enforcement of their rights to this proprietary logo these official decals are now no longer available to rebuilders, making this a very unique piano.