Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Did Kemble Disappear?

Another thread mentioned buying a Kemble. About 4-5 years ago I had the opportunity to play various uprights and grands. I liked the pianos very much. I checked the 2012 edition of "Piano Buyer" and they have disappeared from the listings. Have they gone out of business?

Brian Kemble is now a managing director for Bosendorfer, Marty.

I do not know of any Kemble product being produced by anyone today.

Thanks Rich.

Yamaha moved the Kemble production to the Far East. Kemble branded pianos are definitely still available - see

http://kemble-pianos.com/en/

But it appears that they are restricted to Europe (at least there is no option for searching for a dealer outside Europe)

Markus

Thank you Markus,

I appreciate the search you did. I am not familiar with this segment of the European market, but if they are there, they might someday be HERE.

Thanks again,

If those pianos were new at the time, they were 'almost' Yamahas, mostly a matter of case differences and prep. Image value always placed them a notch higher than equivalent Yamahas in the Fine ratings though: Kembles as performance grade, Yamahas as consumer grade.

Yamaha UK and Kemble had a partnership for years, but the only Kemble grand was a YamahaC2 variant made in Japan. When Yamaha decided to end UK production a few years ago, Kemble was snuffed out, but a dissolution agreement allowed Yamah to take the Kemble name and apply it to some of its Indonesian production. Lots of grief in public statements from Brian Kemble at the time, but like most piano execs he was reinvented, reincarnated, ?recycled? elsewhere after a rinse and spin cycle.

Thanks Turandot,

This is very interesting. At the time, it was a new line carried by the dealership and supposedly from the UK. The only other experience with a British piano that I have had was with the Knight. My ear didn't make any connection with Yamaha. It was a totally different voicing and I enjoyed playing the instruments.

I didn't mean to imply any hocus pocus on the origin. Those Kembles you played were certainly manufactured in UK at the same plant that manufactured Yamahas for Europe. Kemble had a very small footprint in the USA. Distribution was pretty much a one-man operation.


No argument from me on the Kemble sound not bringing Yamaha to one's mind. I think the main difference was hammers that were either manufactured or profiled in prep to take off some of the percussive edge. That, along with the lovely Yamaha action could be quite attractive.

Actually Yamaha itself is moving in that direction these days. You might want to check out the latest versions of the C2 and C3 grands, and the YUS verticals.

I have noticed the change in Yamaha and it certainly has received press here. I used to really dislike their sound and now I consider them to be viable options.

Some guys hang out in bars, I hang out in piano stores. When I travel, which is often, I love to check out new stores and play everything that I can.

Turandot,

Good to "see" you!