Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Do steinways have smaller key depth?

Whenever i see a Steinway piano, the first thought thought that comes to my mind is how the keybed seems to be shorter than other brands (Kawai, Yamaha). I'm talking about the vertical height of the keys, and distance the keys travel when played.

does anyone else feels the same?

The published key dip dimension of Steinway pianos is a bit greater than most, although there may be some discrepancy in how or where it is measured.

According to my tech this is easy to adjust (at least with Renner).

After visiting a Steinway dealer yesterday, there is no doubt in my mind anymore that the keys are vertically shorter on the Steinway, it’s very easy to tell even by just looking.

I used to have a Steinway (NY A) and Yamaha (GB1), both of recent production, in the same room and I did measure the key dip depth. With my low-tech (tape measure) tool, the depths were the same, 10 mm +/- 0.5 mm.

This probably does not count, but I also have a Kawai MP11 and the key dip depth is the same.

I don't know how visually they would look different. They did not appear so to me.

No.
But it’s easy to measure by laying something called a “dip block” on a depressed key.

I think it's a generalisation.

I had tried out 3 Boesendoerfers and had the impression that the dynamic range is quite limited / compressed unless I bang the keys.

Is it valid? No, probably not, perhaps those were all models that didnt fit to me.

It is just an optical illusion due to the size and position of the key slip, which can be widely different across brands and models.

This might actually be the case, and it is why im saying that you can tell by just looking at the keys.

if this is truly the case, then i actually prefer the way steinway places their key slip.

My tech said key depth can be adjusted easily, at least with Renner action.

Or a first sighting of Horowitz Heritage models with light hammers !!!