Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Ebony black POLISH or Ebony black SATIN?

Which one "looks" newer longer? Or doesnt look as "used" even with gentle use over time?

if you gonna keep it for 10 years go with the one you like the best... in the end there will be as much ppl prefer satin vs the ppl prefer polished black

when you get a scratch on satin, you'll never get rid of it. Ebony is so much better

This is not right for rubbed satin finishes. They are the easiest finish to repair. However, a matte finish (or sprayed satin) is more difficult to repair than high gloss. Polish is in between.

To the OP's question, if the finishes are thick, they can both be brought back to look like new even after 30-40 years of minimal maintenance from a good environment. Get what you like.

I'm with Sam on this. A satin rubbed finish is very easy to repair. It is also easy to re-polish after many years. The sprayed matte satin will be a pain in the future for those that need touch ups.

Can i ask what is the difference between rubbed and sprayed matte? and how can you tell looking at a piano which is which, I mean is it obvious?

Hand-rubbed satin is made by using an abrasive (often very fine steel wool) on a gloss or semi-gloss finish in a uniform direction to give it a satin sheen. Looking closely, you will notice uniform direction to the finish. A matte finish is a more general term, but when speaking about piano finishes, it originates as a less shiny finish and is not rubbed out.

For example, Steinway's satin finish:

You can see the direction of the hand-rubbed finish.

For example, Bösendorfer's matte finish:

No direction, just matte.

Steinway's finish is some care, terribly soft but easy to repair. Bösendorfer's matte finish requires no care, is very hard, but very difficult to repair because, without the tiny satin scratches, the sheen is hard to match drawing attention to any repair.

ahhh I see, thanks a lot. They both look awesome

"Ebony" seems to be bounced around a lot. It it completely redundant and means nothing in the context of a finish on a piano, except that it may sound impressive or expensive to potential buyers.
Black is black.
Ebony is the name of a dark wood (not always black!). There is no ebony on the case of a piano.