Crystal/Glass Pianos

[ClassicalPiano2002]

does anyone know how much a crystal/glass piano would cost (new or used) ? My family is very interested and has been looking for one and im wondering how much one would cost

[Brian Lawson, RPT]

Probaly not crystal/glass but acrylic  - at least for the rim as in http://www.schimmel.de/e/glasfluegel.html

I've got a dealer friend with a 1970's Kawai grand that someone took lid off and replaced it with a piece of thick, shaped plate glass.

[classicarts]

I saw a used one online.  It was a Kawai grand piano.  He asking three times the normal cost of a regular grand.   

[kawaidon]

Kawai still manufactures the CR-40, which is essentially an RX-3 (6'1") made with a plexiglass cabinet.

I believe the retail price is in the neighborhood of $80K.

Don Mannino RPT
Kawai America

[leahcim]

Hopefully they bought a crystal ball...

[sonatainfsharp]

I played an acrylic piano onces and it didn't sound like a piano at all--it was simply a show piece, but maybe I just had a bad example.

[adelebrooks]

You can check the selection of these new transparent grand pianos here http://europianosnaples.com/producttags/transparent/. They have different options.  All these crystal models look really amazing! Such a piano is a gem for performing artists and people looking for something unique. Wish I could play one of them.

[iansinclair]

They do look different... some folks (Liberace?) really like the look.  They also sound different.  Very different.  If you are thinking of buying it for the specific look, well and good.  Be sure and protect it -- if it is acrylic, which most of them are, it will scratch very easily, and the scratches are almost impossible to get rid of.  Use a cover, except when you are displaying it.

The cover will also help with some of the weird ringing which they all seem to have when you are playing it -- but if you are purchasing it as a piano, be very sure that you just have to have the look and can tolerate the sound.

[briansaddleback]

I would crack a crystal or glass piano playing my Revolutionary on it.