Ideal for a working piano studio.

  The no frills model P2 at the time was a part of the Yamaha Classic Collection. The P-series has historically been one of Yamaha’s most popular vertical piano line and has had huge financial success. Living space is at a premium in Japan and Europe so fewer grands are sold, making a strong case for a high-quality upright like this. Yamaha also has factories situated in China and Indonesia where their lesser quality lines of pianos are built. Lower labor costs there enable more economical price points. Designed for the experienced pianist and professional musician, the Yamaha model P2 Studio piano was built in the main factory in Hamamatsu, Japan and offers outstanding musical performance, setting the standards by which many other upright pianos are measured. A perennial favorite among discerning pianists, they feature outstanding tone, touch and durability.

As always, this piano is sourced locally, per our company policy. It has lived here in Albuquerque for at least the past twenty years so it is happily acclimated to our unique desert Southwest climate. Though this Yamaha model P2 Studio piano was manufactured in 1965, it was played very little so the moving parts in the action have minimal wear. It has recently been serviced by competent and knowledgeable technicians. It is in excellent condition – structurally and aesthetically, and should offer you decades of musical fulfillment.

Yamaha has had a well-deserved reputation for superior quality control and virtually perfect preparation at the factory. They arrive at the dealership in flawless condition. Technicians are enthusiastic about servicing them due to their exceptional engineering and design. Many highly respected musicians are Yamaha Artists and endorse these pianos. Elton John comes to mind. Many schools of music have become All-Yamaha Schools as a means to attract students desiring quality musical instruments during their studies and practice. Institutions especially like the low-maintenance character of these pianos because they are averse to recurring budget costs for tuning and service. You will find their products nearly everywhere else too: homes, churches, on stage, in the recording studio, and the like.

It has the classic Yamaha “feel”; the accuracy and responsiveness that permits vivid musical expression and a wide dynamic range. The tone is rich and colorful. Being a 45” vertical, the bass is strong and robust. We had only to do our usual dealer prep in our restoration shop and nothing more. That means pitch correction, voicing, tightening action screws, minor action regulation, cleaning inside, etc. It has the classic Yamaha evenness of touch; fast, accurate and responsive with an excellent repetition. The tone is also classic Yamaha. It is harmonic-rich and sonorous with an excellent dynamic range, meaning the pianist can perform the subtlest pianissimos and most forceful fortissimos. The finish is classic satin ebony. Complimentary local, first-floor professional delivery is included. The original matching bench has music storage.

The Yamaha logo is three musical tuning forks intertwined – even on a snowmobile!

Harmonic convergence with beauty and functionality.

  This designer piece is a beauty to behold with its graceful, beveled lines, Sheraton tapered legs with ornate brass ferrules and delicate toe-bars, shapely music-rack and ribbon mahogany polished finish. The cabinetry is built from striking red mahogany wood veneers and preserved with a polished finish, and free of any particle board. All of the hardware is solid brass. The music-desk is sturdy in order to accommodate a heavy book and long enough for a multiple page musical score. The covering for the keyboard is a smoothly-sliding fallboard that won’t scratch the sides or warp, and get stuck inside. The middle pedal is a practice function with a muffler to mute the hammers. Even the original matching bench with its matching legs is lovely to the eyes. The cabinet is in excellent condition and the piano was obviously adored and cared for.

It has been a long time resident here in Albuquerque, so it is happily acclimated and well-adjusted to our unique climate. The overall condition is excellent; structurally and aesthetically. It wasn’t played very much but was intended to be the lovely focal point of the formal living room. We provided a thorough action regulation, cleaning and multiple tunings for stability in our restoration shop.  The tuning pins are tight, so it holds tune well.  Given Story & Clark’s well-earned reputation for maintenance-free durability, this piano should provide many more years of enjoyment and musical fulfillment. We’re happy to warrant the instrument for two years. Complimentary local, first-floor professional delivery is included.

Hampton Story began his retail piano business in 1857 and was joined by Melville Clark in 1884. They actually had a thriving reed organ manufacturing business in Chicago, Ill. before they built pianos. Eventually, there were also factories in London, England and Berlin, Germany. When they began building pianos, the factory was located in Grand Haven, Michigan which was called “Furniture Country” at the time 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 different species of woods, depending on the need whether it be strength, flexibility, density, beauty, uniformity of grain, etc.

After leaving the piano industry, Mr. Story went on to help develop Coronado Island across the bay from San Diego and build the luxurious Hotel del Coronado in what became Coronado, California. The “Hotel del” is an architectural gem and the second largest wooden structure in the US. The Crown room is perfectly round and built without any metal fasteners like nails, screws or bolts, but only wooden dowels, joints and pegs. Mr. Clark, ironically went on to found the QRS company (Quality Roll Systems – think player-piano rolls) in 1900 and they designed old-fashioned pneumatic (air pressure with a bellows) player-pianos and eventually, new electronic disk-player systems that became popular in the 1990’s. Those systems are actually wireless today and play wirelessly through networks with no need for disk drives. You can control them with your phone or tablet. To complete the circle, QRS acquired the Story & Clark Piano Co. in 1993 in order to offer these player-systems in their own piano brand.

World renowned Hotel del Coronado.

Fallboard closed to protect the keyboard.

44-inch Seiler Family of Pianos Upright.

  European-inspired and a mellow tone quality, it has a warmth that is very pleasant. The Seiler piano history traces its lineage to the land of Mozart and Beethoven in the Prussia region of Europe. This piano would be ideally suited for the performance of classical music though a player can play any kind of music on any piano. This is a fine instrument capable of the nuanced tone, touch and greatest expression that classical music demands. It has a broad dynamic range with the ability to perform the quietest pianissimos and forceful fortissimos. It has a nice sustain with a lengthy duration of tone. This piano would be suitable for a serious pianist or a music studio.

With a Johannes Seiler model GS-112 piano, you can also take pride in its appearance. Details of its style include slim lines, a clean profile with flush-fit lid, subtle bevels outline the upper and lower panels and nickel hardware that brings the contrast of the classic satin ebony finish to life (pedals, hinges, casters & accents). A slow-close fallboard protects the keyboard and little fingers. There is a mute rail operated from the middle pedal for quiet practice. The original matching padded bench with music storage is included. So is local first-floor professional delivery.

GS-112 NDR – Seiler Piano USA

The piano is in excellent condition – structurally and aesthetically. It has lived its short life here in Albuquerque so it is happily acclimated and fully adjusted to our unique dry climate and it should provide decades of musical enrichment. It is a one owner and sadly they can not take the piano with them in a move. It is nearly brand new and the 88 Keys Piano Restoration shop had to do very little to prep the instrument for sale. We will be happy to offer a two-year warranty and professional tuning after delivery.

Love at first sound.

In July 2013, the new Johannes Seiler line was introduced. Though it features cabinetry as beautiful as that of its more expensive brethren, this lower-cost line has its own scale design not shared by other Samick-owned brands, and is produced entirely in the company’s Indonesian facility, using Samick’s premium action and hammers from Abel. These three grand and three vertical models can be identified by the “Johannes Seiler” label on the fallboard. Larry Fine, author “The Piano Book”

Premium German Abel wool hammer felts.

Premium German Roslau music wire and bass strings.

Best quality Samick – natural wood piano-action

Yamaha’s extended height 44-inch Console Piano.

  It’s additional four-inches in height give it a string-length advantage over the standard 40-inch height of most Console pianos, so this is called an elevated Console. A Studio Upright piano starts at 45” tall – a mere one-inch taller than this model. The taller cabinet allows lengthier strings that deliver more power and continue to vibrate for a longer period of time that improves the “duration of tone” or sustain time. A taller piano also permits a more expansive soundboard in square inches producing a stronger overall tone-quality and especially, a more robust bass response. The piano-action inside benefits from a larger cabinet too, because it permits longer key-sticks, levers and larger individual parts for a more responsive feel that is also easier to regulate properly. As to vertical pianos – The taller, the better!

The Yamaha Gallery Collection

Eight Period furniture styles to select from

This model was designed for the United States market in a traditional American furniture style, whereas most Yamaha pianos are in a square, simple, unadorned polished black style. The cabinet veneers are in red mahogany with a satin lacquer finish in a light, delicate Sheraton style with round, fluted legs and brass ferrules at the floor. The mahogany wood grain on the lid and sides has an interesting pattern. The music rack is ornate with a free-form design and the ornate hardware and pedals are solid polished brass. The functional music desk is sturdy for larger books with a sheet music lip for long musical scores. The middle pedal has the mute rail function for nearly silent practice. The original bench with matching fluted legs is included. The Yamaha model M500S elevated console piano was built at the modern Yamaha factory in Thomaston, Georgia so it is “Made in the USA!”

This instrument is a one-owner and has been a long-time resident here in Albuquerque, so it is happily acclimated to our unique climate. Though the piano was built in 2004 it has a modest amount of wear (low mileage). The overall condition is excellent; structurally and aesthetically. We provided a thorough action regulation, cleaning and multiple tunings for pitch stability in our restoration shop. The tuning pins are tight so it holds tune well and the all-important soundboard and bridges are perfect. Given Yamaha’s well-earned reputation for maintenance-free durability, this piano should provide decades of enjoyment and musical fulfillment. We’re happy to warrant the instrument for two years. Complimentary local, first-floor professional delivery is included.

Designed for the experienced pianist and professional musician, the Yamaha vertical piano is among the most popular and respected world-wide. They feature outstanding tone, touch and durability, and they are a perennial favorite among discerning pianists. They offer excellent musical performance, setting the standards by which many other pianos are measured. Refined Yamaha scale-designs and components improve the tonal performance, while other modifications enhance strength and longevity. The Yamaha vertical piano is a popular selection for institutions like schools of music, houses of worship, recording studios and the stage.

Yamaha’s patented Ivorite™ Natural keys.

Regulated for its next performance or practice session with the mute rail muffler.

Rounded, fluted legs and original bench with matching legs.

Built in the Czech Republic.

  Petrof instruments are exceptional, revealing a round and romantic timbre in the purest European tradition. This Petrof model 131 Concert Upright is a superb piano with remarkable clarity and modern and refined aesthetics. Expressive with a wide dynamic range and a lovely palette of colors, it would be an excellent choice for a Conservatory or a private studio. Petrof pianos are known for their warm, rich European overall tone quality, full of color and a clear singing treble tone. They don’t necessarily have the tonal power and projection American pianos strive for though. But they excel at classical music with their darker, more mellow tone that “stresses the fundamental pitch” and attenuates the overtone structure normally associated with Asian pianos. They are ideal for Mozart and Beethoven. Someone with a “jazzier” taste in music would probably be better off with a different piano.

The model 131 features the high-performance German designed and manufactured Louis Renner piano-action that permits the musician to fulfill themselves passionately and push their pianistic limits. Renner is only available for their larger uprights and larger grand pianos. Whereas nearly every other manufacturer’s strings randomly pass over a rounded Capo d’ astra bar, the model 131 has eighty-eight separate agraffes for permanent, ideal string spacing. The vast majority of pianos built today are in polished ebony, this is a unique polished walnut finish with an interesting vertical grain structure. It is more forgiving of dust, finger prints and minor “cobweb” scratches. The middle pedal is equipped with a Muffler function for quiet practice. The music desk is sturdy for large, heavy music books with a long sheet music lip to spread out musical scores. The original adjustable Artist bench is included. It is an elite bench built by the Italian company, Discacciati for some of the finest European pianos.

At the time this model was built, there was a huge currency advantage for Czech Republic factories in all industries because they were not yet on the Euro currency. However, when fully regulated and prepped Petrof pianos could hold their own in comparison to more well-known high-end German piano manufacturers. At the time, labor rates were very low and there were no duty taxes to pay. The price of these pianos was only a fraction of that of other European instruments and sometimes even less expensive than pianos from Japan. This is no longer the case. Economic conditions have changed dramatically and the current model has a full MSRP of $50,644. Current Petrof model P 131 Concert Upright Piano.

The Petrof Piano Co. was established in 1864 by Antonin Petrof, born at Hrádec Kralové, Czechoslovakia in 1839. Antonin learned piano building from his uncle in Vienna and returned home to build his own pianos. The Czechs have long been known for their musical instrument building skills and vibrant music industry. The company grew and over the years moved into larger facilities and acquired other plants. Upright pianos came along in 1883 followed by player pianos. Family members began participating in the business. Antonin, Jr. joined the firm in 1908; Vladimir in 1914. Antonin, Sr. lived until 1915. Younger Petrofs Ivan and Dimitrij apprenticed in 1928. The company prospered and their pianos consistently earned prizes at international exhibitions. They embraced the advancement of technology and production became more sophisticated.

1939 brought WWII and the factory converted to war production and afterward in 1947 the State Ministry of Industry took over the company. All businesses in Czechoslovakia were nationalized this way and the Petrof family was forced out. Antonin, Jr. passed away in 1964 after his release from Communist imprisonment. With the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the fall of the Soviet Union afterward, many state-run factories were able to become private businesses again. Fourth-generation Jan, son of Dimitrij, initiated the privatization process in 1991 in order to reclaim the company and in 2001 the factory was successfully passed into the hands of the Petrof family as the fifth generation was also admitted.

Petrof pianos were first imported into the US in 1985 by Geneva International based in Wheeling, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Initially, they had a difficult time convincing piano dealers to carry a piano brand built in a communist country. Geneva’s response was “I’d argue that Czechs were not communists but rather were an invaded nation.” The tumbling of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 resulted in an independent Czech Republic and the Petrof piano began receiving the appreciation as a high-end piano it sorely deserved.

“When properly prepared, they are a very good value.”

Larry Fine

Author, The Piano Book

Sturdy music desk to accommodate large books and long musical scores.