How much should I expect a new piano's tone to brighten? I know that the hammers will compact over time and the tone will get brighter, but I don't know how much to expect. 10%? 20%? A little? A lot? Sorry if this is tough to quantify.

Also, do pianos from different manufacturers differ in how much the tone changes over time? (I'm looking mainly Yamaha and Kawai.)

Thanks in advance.

The Yamaha and Kawai pianos have a more or less soft tone. Their hammers don't harden as much as other American made pianos. I would only expect them to harden about 20%.

Yes, a piano will become brighter or louder as the hammers harden. I don't know that it can be quantified. After all, brightness or lack thereof is a rather subjective term. Chances are if you play the piano every day, you will not even notice the difference. It isn't something that happens suddenly, but rather gradually bit by bit over a period of years. Just don't buy a pinao that you perceive as "too bright" now and you should be fine.

The tone brightens, and it depends on a lot of factors, especially how the hammers are originally made and voiced, how much the piano is played and how hard, and how the piano is serviced.

If you buy the piano with the tone you like, and you have the piano serviced fully every few years (touching up the regulation, hammer shape, and voicing) instead of only having it tuned, then the tone of the piano can be maintained over time and it doesn't just keep getting brighter and brighter.

If you buy the piano and just have it tuned, it will gradually get brighter as long as it is being played regularly. Eventually the hammers become very flat at the strike position, and this produces an ugly tone, not just bright - harsh and distorted.

Excellent post, Don!

Rick