Kawai GL-20 Baby Grand Piano

Product Overview

Kawai released their award-winning line of GL Series Grand Pianos in 2015, and with it; the GL-20 Classic Baby Grand model became the most affordable and best value fully-Japanese made grand on the global piano market. The GL20 absolutely nails the goal of ‘maximum performance for minimum footprint’. The amount of tonal richness and colour which the Kawai GL-20 produces is remarkable for a 5’2″ production instrument.

And the music industry as a whole started to take notice in 2016 when the GL line won the highly coveted ‘Product of the Year’ designation from MMR magazine – the very first acoustic piano to win this award in the three-decade history of the magazine.

Why did the GL series win this prestigious award? The biggest is the sheer amount of premium features from the GX and Shigeru Series they’ve incorporated into the GL series, including Kawai’s Exclusive Millennium III Action with carbon fiber reinforced components (an action originally introduced and exclusive to the handmade Shigeru series), extended length keysticks for superior touch and control as well as concert length key buttons (for maximum energy transfer).

But the list doesn’t end there as Kawai has also included solid brass agraffes for consistency with string spacing, dual duplex scaling which adds considerable tonal coloring as well 11-ply multi-grip pin block for optimized tuning consistency.

Factor in the price, and you’ve got a piano that is nearly impossible to beat from a value perspective. It’s been one of our best-selling pianos for several years now, a trend which doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

Action

Originally introduced as an exclusive feature of the handcrafted Shigeru Kawai series before gradually making its way throughout Kawai’s entire grand piano lineup, the Millennium III Carbon Fiber action is probably the single most celebrated feature of the GL-20. Featuring ABS-Carbon technology, the Millennium III action is revered both for its superior durability and extremely high musical potential. ABS-Carbon has replaced wood in many manufacturing sectors due to its increased strength and far greater resistance to humidity changes, with the piano industry now following suit.

Kawai grand pianos have also included longer key sticks for greater control, along with concert-length key buttons, resulting in a touch that feels like a much larger piano.

The GL-20 also incorporates multi-laminated keybeds for optimum energy transfer, steel-reinforced key slips which helps prevent sticky keys.

Tone

The Kawai GL-20 offers a rich, warm tone with greater expressive properties than what is common in production instruments of its size. The GL20s tone is well balanced at all dynamic levels, and the ‘break’ between bass and treble is far less obvious than in other pianos of its size/price. The GL20’s bass clarity and strength are disproportionately better than the Kawai GL-10, even though there is technically less than 1.5” difference in string length. Perhaps the fact that the GL10 is Indonesian reveals a subtle but very real value in the more experienced factory (Ryoyo) still producing the more exacting product (GL20).

The special features aren’t limited to the action, and in fact carryover to tone-related considerations. One such feature is the presence of extra-long bass strings for improves bass clarity and response. the GL20 also incorporates well-balanced duplex scale, which accentuates the upper partials of the instrument.

The Kawai GL20 offers musicians on a budget with a depth of expression and tonal output typically only found on larger grands, and punches far above its weight with respect to: sustain, projection, tone colour, and long-term tonal stability.

Hammers

ike their fierce rival Yamaha, Kawai is one of vert few piano manufacturers that still produces hammers, rather than outsourcing. The GL20 features a specifically designed double felted maple hammer. The felt is T-Stapled for optimum strength.

Soundboard

The GL-20 further separates itself from the rest of the class when it comes to their soundboards, both in terms of material selection and design. Not only does Kawai select straight-grained, quarter-sawn Solid Sitka Spruce for the GL-20, but the soundboard is also tapered prior to installation for improved sonic potential and optimum power. Solid Spruce precision tapered soundboards a fixture of the high-end market, but are much less common in the GL-20’s class.

Rim/Cabinet

Another nice extra with this Kawai grand is instead of going with a less expensive softwood, Kawai’s elected to go with a single variety, hardwood Matoa rim. Couple that with their ‘double width stretcher bar’ and Stretcher Over-Lap Integrated Design (pinblock and stretcher bar are combined into a single structure) and you’ve got a far more robust rim than you’ll typically find in this class.

Further premium features that have trickled down from Kawai’s more high-end instruments their Crossbone designed Gray Iron V-Pro Plate, along with a soft fall fallboard, triple backposts, as well as heavy-duty casters for easy mobility and a gorgeous exterior design.