W. Hoffmann T128 Upright Piano

Product Overview

The W. Hoffmann T128 upright piano is the largest available upright in the Tradition Line of Hoffmann pianos at 128cm (or 50.5”) and is in every respect, a beautifully satisfying instrument to play. It’s designed and manufactured by Europe’s most popular, limited production piano maker, C Bechstein Europe in the small town of Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic and boasts a rich, warm, powerful, and singing tone – only attainable in limited production, hand-crafted instrument.

The incredible T128 model, along with the other ‘Tradition Series’ Hoffmann instruments, is hand-crafted by 150 highly skilled piano makers, with fine raw European materials to the exacting design and quality standards set out by C. Bechstein Berlin.

The T128 is a ‘concert-sized instrument, and features among other things, an “extra-large soundboard”, which helps to further enhance the piano’s sustain, projection, and overall dynamism.

The Traditional Hoffmann Series – to which the T122 belongs – is the second ‘tier’ of the 3 Hoffmann lines. The Tradition Series is very similar in quality to the Professional Series Hoffmanns, however the two lines feature very different sounds and tonal philosophies. The Tradition Series Hoffmanns are known for their warmer tone and rounder attack. The t128 has beautiful tonal clarity through the whole range of the instrument, which is accentuated by its remarkably responsive and lively soundboard.

The W. Hoffmann T128 features some extremely advanced features, even for a fully European hand-crafted instrument, which include: duplex scaling, full range agraffes, Solid White Spruce soundboards as well as C. Bechstein double felted hammers.

The W. Hoffmann T128 upright is 128cm tall (or 50.5”) and is the most affordable ‘concert-sized yet fully European-made piano available from C. Bechstein Europe. The t128 is possibly the most expressive upright available around 20k, and is a fantastic alternative to a premium Japanese upright or an entry-level German/European instrument.

Action

The action which the W. Hoffmann T128 upright receives a Bechstein made and designed action which they label their ‘Silver Action’. This is the same action that is used in the rest of the W. Hoffmann pianos as well as in the German-made Bechstein Academy instruments.

Bechstein also makes a ‘Gold Action’ which is reserved for their Concert level instruments, as well as a ‘Bronze Action’ which is manufactured by Hailun for their Zimmermann pianos.

For those familiar with Renner Actions, the Bechstein Silver Action is similar in feel, although does have the sense of a deeper key bed (though less deep than Japanese pianos), and seems to be designed and regulated to provide better control in lower dynamic ranges. This is likely also enhanced by the extended key-stick lengths. The repetition speed of this action is fantastic.

The T128’s action gets regulated extensively – to the same tolerances as the Professional W. Hoffmanns and to similar tolerances as the Bechstein Academy line. The touch on the piano is beautifully balanced ‘out-of-the-box’ and is distinctly European in feel.

Tone

The W. Hoffmann T128 offers a remarkable range of musical expression for the fortunate musicians who get to play on one. The T128 has a unique blend of both warmth and tonal clarity to its sound, which really allows each note of the instrument to truly sing. The sound is distinctly and unquestionably European in character – hence the ‘Tradition’ label.

The soundboard on the T128 (and the T122 for that matter) sounds way better than it should. The board resonates beautifully and effortlessly, and the t128 in particular features what Bechstein refers to as an ‘extra-large soundboard, which means the T128 might have the best soundboard on any upright around 20k.

The T128 ’s tone is incredibly colourful, and is a fantastic musical companion for either a serious musician, artist, or for anyone whose priority is tone.

C. Bechstein Europe uses only German bass strings of 99% copper purity in the W. Hoffmann T128 as well as full range agraffes, which although aren’t inexpensive to achieve, drastically improve the piano’s tonal clarity.

Hammers

There are only three piano manufacturers remaining today, who continue to make their own piano hammers: Kawai, Yamaha, and C. Bechstein.

Bechstein designs and manufactures every hammer found in their W. Hoffmann and Bechstein branded pianos in Europe with the finest quality felts and woods available to maintain complete control over the quality of these integral components.

It’s also interesting to note that Bechstein has a specific sized/scaled hammer set for each individual model they make (not just for the different lines) to get as much tonal efficiency out of each instrument.

All Bechstein hammers are made in Germany.

The W. Hoffmann T128 receives mahogany-core, double-felted hammers (English felt) which are carefully selected and hand-voiced by the voicing experts at C. Bechstein Europe

Soundboard

The soundboard in the W. Hoffmann T128 is made of extremely high quality, white spruce grown in the Alps, and provides the instrument with a beautiful sense of tonal clarity, richness and colour and retains. The soundboards are carefully cured by the wood specialists at C. Bechstein Europe for optimal tonal production

There is a substantial and noticeable increase in soundboard quality between the W. Hoffmann Vision and Traditional series, and the quality of soundboard in the Tradition Series Hoffmann’s is equal to that in the Professional Series.

Rim/Cabinet

One of the various things which the Concert Class, C. Bechstein pianos are famous for, is how involved in the tonal production their cases and rims have always been. It, therefore, shouldn’t come as a total surprise that the W. Hoffmann T128’s case is made of massive spruce and a back frame made of medium-density pine wood.

Being a fully European piano, the W. Hoffmann T128’s cabinetry is also distinctly European. W. Hoffmann cabinets are finished to a noticeably higher standard than is usually seen in their instrument class, and feature among other things: straight/clean lines on the fallboard, a half-opening top lid as well a European-style double caster wheels.