Easily the equal of Yamaha’s famous U1 model, the Kawai K-3 is one of the most capable and versatile upright pianos in our store. Founded in 1927 by Koichi Kawai in Hamamatsu, Japan, Kawai has held its own and flourished in the same city as its larger and more famous competitor, Yamaha. This piano is a wonderful example of Kawai craftsmanship. The cabinet remains in very clean condition. Internally, this piano is as clean and unworn as a new piano. Because this piano was built after 2004, this piano also has Kawai’s Millenium III action, though it is our opinion that Kawai’s actions have been excellent at least as far back as the 1970s when Kawai took the then-radical step of reinforcing their actions with ABS*. This piano is 100% original and still retains the tuning stability of a new piano. Kawai’s present-day incarnation of this piano is the K-300, currently priced at $11,795 if you choose the least expensive ebony finish. Even if you got a generous discount from a new Kawai dealer, you would easily end up paying thousands more than the price of this piano. This is a highly capable vertical piano for the price and surely one of the best bargains in the store. If you need convincing, go into any fancy pants new piano dealer and see how much piano you can buy for $6,298. You’ll come running back here out of breath and throwing your credit card at us yelling…SOLD!!

*ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) is a high-performance thermoplastic polymer that is stronger than wood, does not react to humidity changes, and does not degrade over time. It can be molded into precise shapes, such as parts for piano actions. Kawai’s detractors accused Kawai of cutting corners by using “plastic” in their piano actions, implying cheapness and poor quality, when in fact, ABS is an upgrade in strength and reliability over wood. Unlike a clarinet made of ABS instead of wood, Kawai’s ABS parts are only used for action parts NOT responsible for tone production. Kawai’s Millenium III action is the present-day incarnation of Kawai’s decades-long use of high-performance, non-organic materials like ABS to replace some of a piano action’s traditionally wood parts that have historically been most vulnerable to breakage and/or affected negatively by excessive humidity fluctuation.