🎹C. Bechstein Academy A124 (B124) Upright Piano Review & Demo🎹

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#A124 #CBechstein #UprightPiano

Hi everybody and welcome to another piano review video here at the Merriam Pianos YouTube channel. It’s been a little while since we’ve done an upright piano review video, so today we’ve got a beauty for you - The C. Bechstein Academy A124 upright piano.

This is an incredible upright piano, hand-made in Germany, with a super wide range of musical potential.

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One of my Personal Favourites:

The first time I played this instrument was about 5 years ago, and prior to that experience, I wasn’t overly familiar with Bechstein pianos in general other than playing on my friend and superb pianist Adrean Farrugia’s Bechstein Academy upright which was very nice. The first time I played an A124 was at Bechstein’s NAMM booth several years ago, where they were debuting several redesigned models, including a brand new A124. I sat down at the A124 and instantly had a super connective. Incredible musical experience. The bass response was so well balanced, I felt like I was sitting in front of a 6 foot grand. It made such an impression on me that day, and it's what ultimately led to us making the A124 a staple at our showrooms (when they’re in stock that is.)

Piano Overview:

Some quick background on the piano; the A124 is of course 124 cm tall, which is just shy of 49”, and is 100% made in Germany. The A124 is part of Bechstein’s Academy line, meaning it’s part of the second highest quality line of pianos they produce, under only the Concert/Masterpiece line. Some of the material and design costs are reduced with the Academy series, but they are built to the same quality standard and by the same craftsmen as the Concert line.

Bechstein makes their own hammers, one of the few piano manufacturer’s still doing this, and every single model has its own hammer made specifically for that piano. This goes a long in helping to achieve the distinct character each Bechstein piano displays, and the A124 is no exception to this.

Sound:

If I had to use one word to describe the overall sound of the A124 it would be balance - everything about this piano is incredibly balanced, and it doesn’t require much effort on the part of the player to achieve this. The response is amazing, and one of the main reasons for this is how picky Bechstein is with the Spruce they select for their instruments. In every Academy upright, Bechstein uses Alpine Spruce exclusively grown at a minimum of 800 meters, which means the wood is going to be incredibly consistent and have very little moisture. Spruce grown at these altitudes is consistent with what you’ll find in other pianos at the very top of the market.

Another contributor to the tone, especially with regards to the bass, has to do with the fact that the bass strings are hand wound, and sourced extremely selectively. There’s no fall beats, the bass is super clear, as is the treble. There’s not a ton of complexity to the mid range and treble, but it’s laser focused in its clarity.

Action:

Bechstein’s always been well known for their actions with regards to the accuracy and how well regulated they are. The overall control and repetition speed here are super impressive. The resistance is closer to a grand piano, which is a huge plus since this is a typical drawback of upright piano actions - a lack of resistance which can make playing classical music a challenge.

Cabinet:

The A124 is available in two cabinet designs, the ‘Impossant’ (featured in the video) and ‘Style’. It’s also available by special order in a variety of finishes.

Conclusions:

The type of person I think will be most intrigued by this piano is not only someone not constrained by budget, but someone who had no idea an upright piano could provide a musical experience like this. Also, if you’re already looking at a grand piano with a $30,000 budget, you should definitely consider the A124 as an alternative.

Thanks for watching! Long live the piano!

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