Charles Walter is introducing a new product to their line. Sometime later this year, hopefully October/November they will start shipping 50" uprights to their dealers.

At fist it was thought they would introduce a 48" but after their research and development it has been decided a 50" instrument will give them the room needed for a spectacular scale.

Utilizing the same principles as their 43 3/8" & 45" pianos there is a scale designed to maximize the size of the cabinet without "wasted space".

Although some here recently posted high end upright pianos are not worth purchasing I think this is a great development for a U.S. manufacture.

Rod,
Any idea what the price point will be?

Rick

Not at this time.
I am anxiously awaiting that info myself.

I'm like a kid in the candy store. I can't wait to see and hear what they have created.

This is not a copied piano, this will be a trully new design, diffrent from many others.

More choices for large US/Canadian upright buyers! I would have gone out of my way to try one had it been available at the time of my search.

Best of luck with the new release. Here's to hoping it's priced in the same realm as the U3/K6/Petrof 131 as yet another viable option...

That's a good step in the right direction.

Now where's that 152cm upright I've been looking for the last few years?

Rod,[/b] it'll be interesting to see if the Walters incorporate Del Frandrich's design ideas into their new upright. If they do they could be offering a top-tier instrument.

As a very happy owner of a 43" Walter, I am seriously on the edge of my seat here. I'd heard this was coming when I got my Walter in January, but my inside contacts thought it was a long time in coming, not next fall!

They are going to get some nice long bass strings in that cabinet...

Can't wait!

Hi everybody,

I'm new to this forum, just starting the usual "saga". Today I called a piano store in Salem NH, and apparently they have the 50" Charles Walter model with a sostenuto pedal, probably in the 10 grand price range. I want to go to try it out next week (not that I'm particularly competent in those matters ).

Dmitry.

Um mm,

I don't think it's a 50" model. They are not being sent to dealers, as of yet.

Call them and confirm what they are offering you.

It is most likely a studio 1500 and is still worth checking out.

He actually specifically said that it was a new model, 50". I explained him that I initially was looking at uprights, like Schimmel or Petrof, but discovered that they don't have a sostenuto pedal (I've owned a decent digital piano - Technics - for years, and was under the impression that a sostenuto pedal is a standard on any piano ). So I told him that at this point I have no idea what instrument to look for. And that's when he said that they have the new 50" Charles Walter. I try to get there sometime next week.

O.K.
I would be interested in what you find out.

The 50" will be coming with a sostenuto so perhaps a few have left the factory.

But for the 10 grand range, that would be cool and very competitive, but unlikely.

Could you PM me and tell me what dealer you are talking with?

Thanks

Mind you the price of a Walter 175 and a Walter 190 or only $1,100.00 apart.
So who knows. I have not heard of any prices mentioned for the 50" upright.
I guess they, like the grand models would not cost much more to manufacture and thus price them accordingly.

d_p, I can tell you that many people here will be interested in your review of the 50" CW. Be sure to note the showroom environment, the degree of prep, whether the high-gloss finish is shiny enough to blind you when you sit down ...

Showroom environment? Do you mean acoustically?

This is wonderful news.

I can't wait to check one out.

Rod, yes, I was thinking about the acoustics of the showroom.

They are open by appointment only on Sundays, and Sundays are generally very busy in my household (two kids take piano lessons one after another in the afternoon) so you'll have to wait a little bit. I'll try to get there during the week.

Thank you Rod, the pianomadame for Charles Walter and Yamaha. If CW prices the upright over
10g then its too much. Over 10g is a very small
market for uprights, it may have a 15g retail, but will probably sell for well under 10g.
Back into the shadows for me.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by uprightboy:
Thank you Rod, the pianomadame for Charles Walter and Yamaha. [/b][/QUOT]
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Ouch!!!! That hurt

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I talked to Rachel, Charles Walter daughter today and asked if any dealers have new 50" Walters in stock.
The answer was no.

The pianos will not be shipped to dealers until, possibly November/December.

H-m-m... Was it an attempt to "lure" me to the dealership? We'll see. I'll pay them a visit this week.

This first started, what, five years ago?

Long overdue....

And much has happened in the last five years....

I admire Charles Walter to take on this project,especially in this day and age - it will be a very difficult price range to succeed in, at least for uprights.

Wishing them the best of success, one never knows....

Norbert

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Norbert,

I'm sure the Walters will appreciate your admiration.

At least the Walters are in good company.

Below are manufactures with Upright pianos priced over $10,000 in Larry Fines book.
Many of these are over $20,000
Some over $30,000
A few over $40,000
And one over $50,000


Astin- Weight
August Forster
Bechstein
Bluthner
Bohemia
Bosendorfer
Boston
Brodmann Premium
Fandrich & Sons
Feurich
Grotrian
Haessler
Ibach
Irmler
Kawai
Kemble
Knabe
Kohler & Campbell
Mason & Hamlin
Petrof
Pleyel
Pramberger Platinum
Sauter
Schimmel
Schulze pollmann
Seiler
Siegfrid Hansing
Steinberg, Wilh
Steingraeber & Sohne
Steinway & Sons
Vogel
Weinberger
Yamaha

A 50'' Walter upright with Del Frandrich's design ideas--(particularly the action) would get me in the showroom for a test drive!!! Is that rumor? Even at that...cool idea!!!

I do not believe Del was involved with this upright design at least I have not heard of his involvement. I was just at his shop last month and heard no mention of it, from him.

What counts is what these pianos are actually selling for on the market these days.

Everybody who's shopping in today's market knows that at price point of over $ 10,000, a lot of very decent grands are starting to already kick in.

My admiration for Charles Walter was based on the fact that, aside from a few of the Germans - and this mostly in Europe - very few manufacturers are willing to put their resources into this price category for uprights these days - few I know are selling in that slot very well.

Perhaps C.W. will be an exception to the rule, that's why they have my 'admiration' for their undertaking.

I do admire development and new designs, not always based on the allmighty $$.....simply having better pianos on the market will help everybody!

Norbert

Have you heard anything about the cabinetry options? My guess is that it will use the simpler 1500 cabinet style. I am very curious.

I have been trying out many different uprights lately. My impressions of each brand are still forming. Given my current impression of Walter uprights, I think a 50" model could compete with the highest tier models I've tried. If the price is right, then things get really intersting.

I have been told there will be some very beautiful cabinets being offered. Exotic wood veneers and marquetry.
Apparently they will not look as "institutional" as the 1500.
Some will be offered to emulate the look of
vintage pinaos.

We will have to wait, see & hear.

Rod, [/b]even tho Del wasn't directly involved with designing the new upright, the Walters now have several years experience with his scale concepts. Including a bass cutoff or partially floating the bass certainly isn't out of the question. Del also tends to favor balanced string scales and a wide dynamic range. Certainly these are not beyond what the Walters are capable of doing.

Re Norbert's post, +1 re the Walters being brave by introducing a large upright when there are 6' grands available at what will probably prove to be no more than the street price of the new upright.

Let's hope that this model is a success.

I'm sure Del's influence will be of great benefit.

Let's not forget Mr. Walter is no slouch in designing pianos.

Between the two's ideas, I'm sure the piano will be, quite impressive.

Not trying to spin here but with the strong Euro
These may have an advantage when comparing to the great German uprights.

The 1500 is not Dale's design, it's Chuck's.

I suspect that the new piano will have much in common with the scaling on the 1500, albeit in a larger and more powerful piano.

A promised update... I finally went to the dealership and - gasp! - no piano. I was told that it was sold yesterday. I was even shown the place where it stood . That's the bad news. The good news is that the price quote was around $8600. Now, I'm not sure how much stock we can put into this, but when I was there I tried an RX-2 and the initial price quote (without any negotiations) was $16000, which is (I suppose) pretty close to what they are eventually sold for. There was absolutely zero sales pressure, they completely left me alone, let me play and only answered my questions. Which makes me think that the quoted price should stand once the pianos are finally available. Anyhow, I left my coordinates and hope they'll call me when another 50" CW makes its way to the dealership. Sorry to disappoint you.

Dmitry.

Once again there are no Walter 50" pianos in the market yet. None have been shipped. Call the factory if you want. And they will cost more than the price you say they told you.

Did they have other Walter product? If so what and how many?

Not sure why you believe this salesperson after the info I gave you and the fact when you got there, you found no piano just an empty spot.

I thought the original Charles Walter upright was pretty much based on the Janssen studio.

It's really not a matter of "believing - not believing". I posted my conversation with the dealer last week, I went to the dealership this morning and now I'm reporting the results. They are authorized CW dealers, I sent you their coordinates via PM last week, they are referenced on the CW web site. They have several CW uprights and a couple of grands. All the CW instruments I saw were new. I'm repeating the quote I was given. I explicitly said that we probably shouldn't put too much stock into it. That's it.

Thanks for the update I guess they will give you a call at the end of the year when they get the new 50".

Take care

I received this email from Richard at Walter Pianos today:

Nice... With regard to my experience with the CW dealer described above - what a way to generate some traffic at the dealership!...

I had long discussions with the Walters last week at the PTG conference in Anaheim. And once again they said it is to be released for the end of the year as I and cookstar have mentioned.

They did say the dealers including me are anciously waiting for this new piano as it could be a great seller for the Walter dealers.

I hope to have my first ones in January/February 2009. We will see.

You are correct. I am not involved in this project. Chuck and I have had some discussions about it over the past several years but I am not doing the design.

ddf

Don't mean to raise this thread from the dead but-

i'm interested--- any news on the walter?

it's been a while..

i just googled 50 Charles Walter and found this thread.

This is kind of exciting in a way.

hahahah, thats what I did apple

is there any updates on this piano??? im really excited about this 50" charles walter upright

I got an email from my dealer today that they just began shipping them. All have a bright neon green finish with keys in the opposite colors (black and white reversed). There is a fourth pedal that activates an internal steel triangle every time you press a key. The most revolutionary feature was the CrashBoard, it's the fallboard but with an accelerated closing mechanism to make sure dust never gets in during the 250 milliseconds you have to take your hands off of the keyboard.

Apparently these are the latest, most fashionable designs these days at C. Walter.

.

??????

But gnuboi, this can't be right. The one I tried out was hot pink with orange and chartreuse keys. It also did not have the fourth pedal as that is an added cost option (according to the dealer). It did have the crashboard feature, though. That is relly fun to play with, but you have to get your fingers out of the way very quickly or risk losing a finger to the crashing fallboard with its sharp edge which puts one somewhat in mind of the guillotine. I expressed fear that the piano would be damaged by the sharp edge clanging shut with such force, but the dealer explained its revolutionary new super-hardened-titanium reinforced stainless steel keybed and keyslip. He also told me that the revolutionary new aluminum hammers will never need replacing or voicing. They are guaranteed for life as is the carbon fiber-kevlar-fiberglass-cardboard composite soundboard. Amazing what technology can do these days! Did I mention that the keytops are soft and cushy kinda like those padded toilet seats?

JDSY,
The design of the CW 50" was completed. Unfortunately CW didn't start production since the cost of making the plate's mold was not financially feasible.
Iron foundries willing to make piano plates in the United States are practically extinct.

One of the reasons behind making a 50" studio was the market's pressure for tall uprights. As we know CW doesn't make a main-stream studio as the Asian and European piano makers. All being said; CW needed also pianos finish in polyester this was also a challenge since the manufacturer is not really equipped to work with poly at higher volume.

IMO CW doesn't need a 50" upright their 45" and 43" sounds better than most 50" in the market and yet offers higher quality built than brands that sell for higher price. What CW needs is better marketing and a sales force who can represent properly these wonderful instruments.

On another note; the issue with the Iron Foundries and poly is also true for Europe and not only North America; which makes me suspect of many European makers using Plates and Panels manufactured in China and sold as European pianos.

Damn, and I just bought a piano!

(I knew I should have waited.)

Awww go on... these aren't the latest designs... Yamaha's been doing these things for YEARS!

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(Calm down Yamaha lovers, I'm only KIDDING!!!)

This is true for some German makers who offer sub-lines from their main line pianos and have chosen to be less than transparent about stuff.

Put besides their own top line of pianos pianos one can tell - virtually in each and every case.

On the other hand, design and componentry alone are not the only thing that will make a piano special - there's this something special that one can feel and hear the moment you play it. It's an 'unimitable' kind of quality.

Perhaps it's the 'execution of work' or 'attention to details' or whatever you will - this will be the test all truly great pianos will have to pass.

*To clearly stand out from the crowd*.

'Good' and 'very good pianos'...sigh.. the market has a plenty....

Norbert

Thnx Kurtman for the update---
Jdsy

Marketing challenges and high polish finish aside, since CW is already using some Chinese-produced action parts, would it be that far a leap to also outsource the plate production to China? Then we might actually see the Walter 50?