Fazioli F198: A new piano model is born at Fazioli

Unpopular and probably uneducated opinion alert.
Fazioli's are as good as they are overpriced. Very.

Rubens hah, but they can justify it as long as they have people willing to pay the price!

When I was shopping, the local Fazioli dealer told me that an elderly woman came in, played a 7' Fazioli, and bought it. A couple of weeks later her friend came in to buy the other one. Some people just have enough money that there is no budget.

Someday I'll go to the local dealer and see if they have this model and report back. The Faziolis that I've played have a wonderful touch (except for the recital piano there which has seen too much use), but the sound is not for me.

My favorite thing about Fazioli is how they implemented the 4th pedal on the F308, the pedal that brings the hammers closer to the strings (I call it the hammer lift pedal). I love that mechanism so much I DIY'ed it to the middle pedal of my own grand piano, in place of the sostenuto mechanism! I never used the sostenuto anyway whereas I use the hammer lift quite often. It's too bad Fazioli hasn't made it standard on all their pianos. I was hoping to see it on their newest arrivals such as the F198.

Rubens oooooh one of the Steingraebers has a lever that does that! I think they called it the "Mozart sordino rail" or something like that. I liked it. It instantly changed the sound and touch of the piano!

Yes! And Steingraeber went even further with yet another mechanism that puts a thin layer of felt over the hammers. Amazing! I'm such a geek.

Re: Steingraeber Yep, the Mozart Rail and the Sordino pedal. Both of those were as impressive as advertised. I played many of them when at their factory in May, and recently played a D232 as well with these systems. Was amazing experiences!

Rubens

I never used the sostenuto anyway

They'll have to pry my sostenuto from my cold, dead toes!

Rubens I don't often use the sostenuto pedal, but when I need it I'm very glad that it exists!

Jane Coincidentally, I've heard that some Fazioli models don't have functional sostenuto pedals!

The introduction of a _200cm size is a great addition! I've heard that the Bosendorfer 200 is one of the most popular models, and one of the longest in continuous production, part of the reason they've kept it "classical" and out of the VC lineup (maybe @Rich-Galassini can confirm whether that's true).

The F212 and now the F198 - are what keep me buying power ball and mega million lottery tickets couple of times a month!

I have to say I might be critical of their overpricing but if I had all the money in the world there would be a Fazioli in my living room right now.

I wonder if it will be closer to the F183 or the F212 - I felt there was a pretty significant gap between the two.

FWIW, one of the Fazioli dealers I'm familiar with said that they don't think it's going to be a hit in the US market, as there is "hardly any price difference" compared to the F212. Maybe that will change as initial demand equilibrates.

I thought it was interesting what Mr. Kuyvenhoven starts saying at around 9:56. He eventually says "it can be regenerated over time."

I can't imagine having to send one back to Sacile to have it refurbished, but I'd have a hard time trusting anybody else to rebuild one. It reminds of me this video:

At around 28:30, they show them evaluating a special F308 from Taiwan, and updating/rebuilding it.

I hope someday one of my kids will want my Faz, and I hope I'll never have to see it needing to be rebuilt!

It's interesting that Fazioli have chosen to do this. I don't have facts and figures and so I can't give a source, but I've heard recently that the piano factories in Europe are making fewer instruments at the moment, post-pandemic. Now, I have NO IDEA if that's true, but Fazioli introducing a new model gives me some hope that the industry has some life in it.

The 198-205cm size has actually been a favorite in Europe for a while. There was the Bösendorfer 200 which was their go-to salon piano for decades, there was the Steingraeber 205 although it was discontinued, the old Bechstein Model B/V up until the 90s was a 6'7/200cm size, and of course there's the Yamaha C5/S5X size. In many situations in Europe - probably down to the size of most apartments and homes - the 7' size is regarded as a concert grand and so didn't find itself in domestic situations or large teaching studios. For a long time people preferred smaller grands, with 200cm being about the maximum acceptable size in these rooms. Actually it's for this reason that large uprights were so popular there.

This doesn't mean of course that people didn't/don't have Steinway Bs, Cs and Ds at home, or even Bösendorfer imperials. In fact the Royal College of Music used Bösendorfer 213s until about 2000 and switched to Model Bs in their teaching rooms. But that's a professional situation and not a domestic one. Also, I'm only speaking to people's perceptions - of course you can have a B in a small room and voice it to work well. Anyway I'm rambling a bit so I'll stop but maybe there's a nugget in here somewhere....

Joseph-Fleetwood I don't have facts and figures and so I can't give a source, but I've heard recently that the piano factories in Europe are making fewer instruments at the moment, post-pandemic. Now, I have NO IDEA if that's true, but Fazioli introducing a new model gives me some hope that the industry has some life in it.

I suspect that a tiny world-class boutique maker like Fazioli probably works on entirely different economics than much of the industry at large. They only make ₁₄₀ pianos a year, and they are probably fully booked every single year, regardless of whether the European or global economy is booming or in deep recession.

I'm sure they don't ignore broader economic indicators, but the research and planning cycle might run in decades, and the timing of this intro is likely much more tied to a long-term view for the company!

MusicMe Me as well. I always play the scratch tickets with a C Bechstein or Fazioli or BOTH on my mind as a purchase option!