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Charles Walter verticals cost $18-20k, according to Larry Fine. Did I miss their cheaper institutional models?

That sloping front panel is probably more work, and more expensive, than just a single board that clips into the case on cheaper uprights, with the music desk screwed into the underside of lid.

I dislike the fold down things as they put the music too low. I was so happy to have been able to upgrade from a DYUS1 to a DYUS5, mainly because of the better music desk.

I didn't know we were talking about prices? Maybe I didn't read the thread closely enough. I was just demonstrating the simple "built-in" music desk style that I like.

When I was a teenager and college student, the Kawai and Boston studio models were exactly like the Walter. Those were $13k back in the late 90s where I lived. I dreamt of those pianos all the time. Then I got to use the Boston studios with the built-in music desk every day to practice on in college when the 1979 S&S D wasn't available. Heavenly!

P.S. CW 1500 goes for nowhere even close to $18-20k street price around here.

NEW Model by Ritmüller
RSH-123

I think its customer demand rather than the choice of the designers. Just look at Kawai who not only design but actually produce otherwise identical models in both music desk styles, but their full music desk models just don't sell as well. If we bought more they'd probably make more.

I believe you've hit the nail on the head.

I bet a woodworker or cabinet maker could make a nice desk according to one's specifications. You may need to take it to another place to have it painted and finished. That would be my choice if I loved the piano except for the music desk.

I don’t see an easy way to fit in a nice music desk in a piano like a Yamaha U1. The lid gets in the way. What am I missing?

Looks like the old Kawai UST/ST. 😊👍

For those who are particular about the music desk, would this aftermarket solution work? It would certainly allow you to have many more piano options!

Would work for me... and it’s attractive

Well a the regular music stand on uprights works for me. I used to teach on my Sauter and yes it was fine for that and my own playing .The Schimmel I now have is wider and I think perhaps a little longer. It can probably take 4 pages of sheet music stuck together , perhaps5. It can easily hold a fat book of sonatas and other music.
Nothing slips., so no problem.
However It would not be ideal for those who use an iPad. How Its fine for myself and quite a few people I think. I do not like the look of big music desks on uprights. so clumsy looking.

I will just add for the K400 , the desk does not seem overwhelming and the YUS5 is finished off well with that purple material. I have seen some "grey" Yamahas where where the desk seemed overwhelming. When I first saw the YUS5, I thought it was ugly, however it has grown on me a little.
Unless one needs orchestral scores or iPads on a music desk I have never seen the need for huge music desks.
I like the Art Deco design of a Baldwin upright I saw. The kind of design where the music desk is incorporated into the style of the instrument .Everyone to their own .

That inexpensive music rest design is enabled by a more expensive "fall board" that slides into the piano case.

If you need one that certainly would seem to do the job. Looks ugly on a traditional piano though.

True, true, and the sliding cover is a major pain in the rear to operate. I keep it open all of the time. Getting it in and out knocks it out of alignment, and once it's open it will rattle like crazy until I push on the right spots to get it to stop. I haven't closed that cover in three years or more.

Although, the Kawai and Boston studios I used to play a lifetime ago had the exact same music desk/front panel design and those had more traditional fallboards. (I don't have reference photos of the pianos I used in college.)

The Kawai UST9/new ST doesn’t. https://kawaius.com/product/ust-9/

Neither does the M&H 50.
https://worldsfinestpianos.com/store/mason-hamlin-50-upright/

For me, these are a few examples of the MINIMUM I look for in a piano's music desk.


Okay for some reason the URLs it gave me wouldn't work for using the image tag to embed, so I put them in a Google Photos album instead, here's the link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/25pr1WCTEVzvjxuN9

(As one example, this is the URL for one of the images when I right-clicked and opened image in new tab, to get the direct link .... there's no .jpg or anything like that in it --- https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...NyVwHWbm3zPdHb=w1600-h1200-no?authuser=0 )



I absolutely *HATE* the dinky little fold-down music desks that are under the fallboard on some pianos, like the Yamaha U3 for example. (My sister has one, the piano is otherwise pretty good though.)

I also like the music desks on some older uprights, like this one I used to have.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/njHSWjcaqGaQE7di8

(Again, had to use a link to a google share instead of the direct image link cause no .jpg or whatever in it. Wish I knew another way to link images, without signing up for yet another account somewhere (or dumping it some random place that I'll forget about later...)

The traditional fallboard consumes more height. It still works on a 50" piano like the M&H as there is enough height remaining on the upper front panel.

The UST9 does not really have the height for this to be ideal. A fallboard that slides into the case would preserve more height for the music rest. The same may be true of the Walter 45", which I assume is why they implement it that way.

Cars are now being sold without spare tires or a place to store them too. Consumers seem fine with this, so I guess the spare tire will go the way of the upright music desk, and the piano and car companies will enhance their profits by what I think is a very small amount.

Currently in the US, the Kawai K-400 and K-300 are the only such pair offered.

The Kawai K-400 only lists for $700 more than a K-300. If the list price is discounted, that's probably just a $400-450 difference. The K-400 has a deeper cabinet with longer key stick length corresponding to the key length of the K-500, and it has a grand-style music desk. I would pay the difference just for the longer key sticks.

Strangely I found the K400 actually sounded much nicer than the K300. Logically there isn't so much difference in the design to account for that, maybe it was just the two individial pianos I compared, but nevertheless I very much preferred the 400 - even though I'm not that concerned about one music style desk over another.