Kawai

[pianowelsh]

I Have a question. K Kawai = dad, S. Kawai = son! correct so far.  Are both pianos still produced or is K now S and if both are still produced which are better?? Mostly in competitions Ive seen K Kawai, but im told that Shigeru Kawai are the bees-knees? please explain 

[arensky]

Shigeru Kawai is their upscale model, and is really a completely different piano from the K. Kawai. I've played a couple of Shigerus and wanted to take them home with me. They are beautiful instruments, a bit lacking in bass power but having a very clean and penetrating "glossy" tone. However some people don't care for them, we all have different taste in pianos.

[Waldszenen]

That's true. Shigeru Kawai produce only upper-end grand pianos whereas K. Kawai produce all varieties of piano, including uprights and digital.

[iumonito]

And the one you see in the competitions is yet another animal.  The Kawai EX.  In philosophy and attention to detail it is a Shigeru Kawai, althought my limited understanding is that the Shigeru Kawai is a more recent design.

The Shigeru Kawai I have played sounded and felt very much like a good German piano, if that is a compliment.  I would say comparable to a Grotrian or a Bechstein, much better than an H Steinway of the same size.

BTW, I think Shigeru is the grandfather.

[pianowelsh]

OK.. So do I understand that it is the same corporation but with two tierd branding. Ie Shigeru is the Deluxe pianos and K Kawai are the run of the mill ones for colleges and small halls etc Where to the XE come in are they new or are they now finished product line that were top of the range K Kawai??  Im sorry but they dont seem to be very transparent on that one.

[gfiore]

 The EX concert grand has been around for about 20 years. There is also a newer version, the EX-G. During the early 1980's Kawai also made a GS and R series of grand pianos, which at that time were their top tier line selling along side of the generic KG series of grands.

[quantum]

So does K. Kawai and Shigeru make different concert grands?  I've seen pictures of an EX with "Shigeru" printed on the side, and I've personally played an EX with only "Kawai" on its side.  Are these different instruments?

Also what is the difference between EX and EX-G?

[gfiore]

Yes. The Shigeru EX  is a very limited production piano using premium materials as does the rest of the Shigeru line. It is superior to the standard EX.

[Axtremus]

Koichi Kawai = founder and first president of the Kawai company. (Deceased)
Shigeru Kawai = son of Koichi Kawai, second president of Kawai. (Recently deceased)
Hirotaka Kawai = current president of the Kawai company.

Kawai history: https://kawaius.com/main_links/legacy_home.html
Kawai old models: https://www.kawaius-tsd.com/pages/old_grands.html

Shigeru EX concert grand is what Kawai considers to be the very best among their stable designs. The EX (sans Shigeru) is an experimental platform for Kawai to test out new ideas, new design elements, new "tweaks." This old e-mail explains in detail the "experimental" nature of the EX platform: https://www.ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech/1997-April/016391.html

[kawaidon]

I Have a question. K Kawai = dad, S. Kawai = son! correct so far.  Are both pianos still produced or is K now S and if both are still produced which are better?? Mostly in competitions Ive seen K Kawai, but im told that Shigeru Kawai are the bees-knees? please explain 

Shigeru Kawai pianos are made in sizes from 5'10" to 9' The concert grand is called the SK-EX, and is the piano we usually put in the piano competitions now.  Since they are not very common pianos (we only have 2 available for concert use in North America at this time), sometimes you will see a Kawai EX or EX-G in competitions.

Shigeru Kawai pianos are much more hand-made instruments than the Kawai RX grands.  Please visit www.shigerukawai.com for more details.

The EX-G is simply a Kawai EX with round legs and pedal lyre posts.  The Shigeru Kawai EX also comes with these round legs.