I look to be inheriting a Kawai NS-15, a 1986 from my mother in law. It is not the ebony finish but a brown color. It seems in excellent shape. I have tried to look up some information on these, and I cannot seem to find too much. Can anyone tell me about them?

I also posted a little info and intro here: My intro and new piano post. https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2571320/New_(to_me)_Kawai_NS-15_(info_.html#Post2571320

Here are couple links to some pics. I cannot yet figure out how to include pics in a post.

NS-15 Pic 1

NS-15 Pic 2

NS-15 Pic 3

NS-14 Pic 4



Thanks for any insights you can provide! It seems like a really nice piano and I would love to know a little about it.

your best source would probably be, talk to a kawai dealer who was active in that time period. it appears to have been very popular and successful in its day, and not a budget instrument. it's probably much nicer than the average piano student's 'bang around upright'. ebony was by far the most common finish in those pianos, and usually the same piano in walnut, mahogany, or rosewood went for higher prices relative to ebony as new instruments. generally, verticals 48 in. and higher are intended for fairly serious students or professionals who don't have the budget or space for a small grand. with smaller living spaces, tall uprights are usually more popular in Japan or Europe than in the u.s., and some european makers take their vertical pianos very seriously. from accessible info, it was probably built in Japan rather than elsewhere in Asia. in the past, kawai was shadowing yamaha to a degree, offering similar pianos they'd market as better values for the money. that model was a 'shadow' of a very successful tall yamaha upright (of which there are quite a few still around, not unlike the ns-15).

Thank you. That makes sense about the taller uprights and Europeans. And it does appear to be a 49" model (and predecessor to the NS-20? I seem to find more info on the NS-20). My mother in law was a Dutch psychiatrist, and purchased this piano to pursue her classical piano studies after achieving a certain level of success in her private practice, and after her kids had left the house. So makes sense she purchased something pretty nice. It certainly sounds and feels a lot better than the old Acrosonic spinet I was raised on. I hope to return to my childhood through young adulthood piano studies before shifting primarily to guitar and hope to do it some justice.

That's a pretty good model from Kawai. The 49" and taller Kawai were always spec'd for institutional use with better construction and materials than in the shorter models. There is a long lineage of the 49" models under different model names. Only recently was this format changed with Kawai's current lineup. The most recent in the line of 49" models of similar design was the K-5.

I'm sure it's already much better than your spinet, but consider investing a little in fresh regulation and voicing to make it fresh and even in touch and tone.

Thanks, I will take that advice. I am having my former guitar instructor who is also a piano mover and tuner/tech help me move it and I will ask him to check regulation, voicing, etc. as well. As you say, its voice is already much better than our old acrosonic.

Did the spell checker mess you up? It is 'regulation', not 'registration'.

Uh, yeah. Dang that Siri!! That was what I meant. Though I do admit that it was a new term and concept to me. I never thought about that when I was a piano student low these many years ago. And even if I had, such a concept was never applied to our old Acrosonic.

Wow, this looks EXACTLY like my old Yamaha U1 from 1985. The only difference is the name!

Interesting!