Kawai GL-10 Baby Grand Piano

Model Overview

The Kawai GL-10 Baby grand piano hit the global market along with the other GL Series Grand Pianos in 2015 and completely changed the game for production grand pianos. The GL-10 is 5’0″ long, and is therefore classified as a ‘baby-grand’ piano. The whole GL line from Kawai received the ‘Product of the Year’ award from MMR magazine in 2016, which is an award given to the most innovative musical product released in a given year. It was the first time an acoustic piano had ever won the award.

Some of the many innovative features found in the GL-10 include Kawai’s Exclusive Millennium III Action with abs-carbon/carbon fiber technology (now on every Kawai grand piano), extended length keysticks (better control from front to back of each key), and concert-length key buttons (for maximum energy transfer).

Two additional features that Kawai’s GL pianos that aren’t common in its instrument class include solid brass agraffes for consistent string spacing, dual duplex scaling for additional tonal color, and an 11-ply multi-grip pin block for optimal tuning stability.

Action

The GL-10 grand piano from Kawai includes state-of-the-art Millenium III Carbon Fibre Action featuring ABS-Carbon Technology which is now officially featured in every grand piano Kawai produces. The exceptional touch experience that this action provides is more fluid and accurate than is available in any other production 5 foot piano, bar none.

Kawai’s Millennium III Action has broken a lot of ground in the piano industry and includes advanced features such as moving pieces made entirely of abs-carbon material (lighter, stronger and faster than wood, no shrinking/swelling with humidity changes), longer key sticks (for better dynamic control) and concert-length key buttons to bring the touch was close to 9′ grand in a 5′ as possible.

All Kawai grands now also feature multi-laminated keybeds to ensure optimum energy transfer between the musician and the instrument.

Kawai grand pianos also have steel-reinforced key slips which prevents the keyslip from ever warping.

Tone

The GL-10 has a tone that is full, rich, and expressive far beyond what’s expected of a 5 foot piano!

The warm and clear tone of the GL10 is achieved with the use of: extended bass strings (greater bass resonance), high-quality solid spruce precision tapered soundboards (which are strategically tapered for optimal response and resonance), premium maple double felted hammers (for articulation clarity) and a full perimeter case for added projection and tonal efficiency.

Kawai’s piano tone is so often compared with Yamaha’s because of their shared lineage and the fact that their product lines directly compete. The GL series is really descended from the RX line, and with the exception of the lack of vertically laminated bridges, is essentially an evolved version. The GL pianos have thicker rims (and more dense) than the previous GM versions, and also feature stretcher bars across the front, which creates a full perimeter of hardwood rim material.

The tone of the GL’s are not as complex as the GX – particularly the GL10 and GL20, and the treble is slightly less clear, however, it does have a beautiful mid-range tone which is almost Steinway like – not dissimilar to a Mason & Hamlin B or Steinway M with that lovely bloom in the middle octaves.

Hammers

There are only a handful of piano makers left today who continue to make their own hammers, and Kawai is one of them. The GL Series models receive maples-core hammers which are double felted and T stapled for optimum strength.

Soundboard

The soundboard in Kawai’s GL Series pianos are made of high quality, straight-grained/quarter-sawn Solid Spruce wood, and get precision tapered to maximize the efficiency and resonance potential of the board. Full-length ribs are placed along the board to retain the soundboard’s crown shape.

Kawai’s soundboards have to pass very strict tolerances to be used in their GL Series Grands Pianos, and really make these pianos sing!

Rim/Cabinet

Kawai’s GL-10 is literally the best structurally built piano on the market in its price range…period. Its rim is made entirely out of selected hardwoods including maple, which provides the piano with far greater tonal projection, tuning stability and overall durability vs. almost all other pianos in this class, which are often built on softer or less-dense rims.

The GL pianos also feature another unique design feature with regards to the frame, what Kawai refers to as SOLID construction, short for Stretcher Over-Lap Integrated Design. This refers to the pinblock and stretcher bar being integrated as a single structure and anchored to the rim as one. The stretcher bar is a ‘double width stretcher bar’, which helps ensure stable tuning and structural integrity over time.

Kawai refers to their proprietary plate design as the V-Pro Plate, which is a vacuum moulded plate designed for optimal strength and consistency and built to endue over 18 tons of string tension. Kawai further strengthens their V-Pro Plate with a ‘crossbone’ design for the plate struts

The Kawai GL10 has additional cabinet detailing such as a soft fall fallboard, 3 backposts, 3 lid props, brass logo, and casters as well as a music rack with 5 positions; which proves very convenient.