Would there be much of a difference in tone if there was a 10 footer or an 11 footer? I know volume would be increased, but I was just wondering mainly about the bass. Would there even be any advantages to having a 10' piano compared to a 9'?

Yeah, I've been having a "long piano" obsession this past week.

-Colin

Fazioli build an instrument which is 10´2" (305 cm) which they claim is the largest piano built as a "standard series" (if one can speak of anything like that when you´re probably talking single digit production numbers per year), and the largest Bösendorfer is 290cm, so that would be 9´ 8".

Yes, there are at least two (that I know of) that are beyond 9': the Bosendorfer Imperial Concert Grand and the Fazioli F308. I believe the 308 is the current general production (as opposed to one-off special editions) length champ at 3080 mm = 10'1". In theory, longer strings equals more volume potential but string length is only one component of scale design.

3080 mm = 10'3" I think.

oops I was wrong. then 305 cm is not 10'2" but exactly 10'

OK, let's all get out our calculators The Fazioli web page shows the F308 as being 3080 mm which is 121.2598 inches or 10.105 feet.

308 cm = 121.25984251969 in. = 10 ft. 1.26 in. just about.
290 cm = 114.1732291 in. = 9 ft. 6.17 in.

Since the Bösendorfer has extra notes, the length of the strings are pretty close to a standard 9' grand. The extra length just accommodates the notes lower than the lowest A on an 88 note concert grand.

This is not true at all.

The additional 9 notes on the Bosendorfer Imperial add exactly 3" to the length of the piano, not 6". That means there are 3 additional inches you haven't offered any valid accounting for.

Derick

The strings of a longer piano can be a thinner gauge to give the same mass as the strings of the same note on a shorter piano.

On a longer piano proportionally less of the string's length is rigid near the terminations, so there is less inharmonicity.

The shorter the piano the more compromises are needed.
There is nothing magic or optimum about 9 feet.

I believe it is money and space that limits the "practical" length of pianos.

And let's not forget the 375 cm grand built by David Rubenstein. It's on display this year at the NAMM show. Perhaps Frank can get a picture of it.

Del

Are you basing that on the comparison of the 290 and the 280? The 280 is a newer design than the 290. The 280 may be longer than the 290 if you were to consider only the standard 88 notes. The 290 is probably more comparable to the 92 note 275. But it really does not matter. These differences only vary by a small percentage. The difference in performance between any of them and any other piano around 9 feet is less meaningful than the difference between a 5 foot piano and a 5 foot 6 inch piano.

The important things are: None of them will fit into a standard elevator, even if placed on their keyboard. None of them will go around bends in most staircases. A big piano dictates where you can live with it. What you pay to buy one is not the whole cost of owning it.

No, I'm not basing the comparison on the 280, I'm basing it on the hitchpin positions in the 290. (The hitchpin for the lowest C and the hitchpin for the A above that; the lowest note on a normal 88-key piano.)

The lowest C's hitchpin is 3" further out on the bridge than the A.

Derick

And how much closer to the front of the piano is the C's agraffe than the A's?

.5"

Derick