Performance Edition
The largest Boston upright piano at a height of 52" (132 cm), the UP-132E Performance Edition provides a rich and powerful sound that rivals many grand pianos.
Boston uprights offer the same standards of excellence that characterize all instruments designed by Steinway & Sons. A Boston upright will give you the same opportunities to express your musical skill as a grand will.
The Boston upright features a duplex scale, adapted from the famous Steinway & Sons design, which adds a harmonic richness that simply can’t be duplicated by other instruments in a similar price range.
In comparison to other pianos, the Boston has lower string tension. This reduced string tension allows for a larger, tapered soundboard, creating longer sustain, and a more singing quality in the tone (as well as longer piano life). A wealth of other engineering enhancements, including optimal placement of ribs, braces, and bridges, also contribute to the Boston’s superior tone and greater stability.
Each Boston piano soundboard is crafted of spruce, long proven to be the most resonant material available. Boston soundboards are solid (not laminated) and precisely tapered, which allows them to vibrate more freely. In conjunction with a number of special technologies — unique patents of Steinway & Sons — the result is a powerful, sustained tone.
Height: 132 cm (52")
Width: 154 cm (60½")
Depth: 67 cm (26¼")
Net Weight: 302 kg (664 lb)
Cabinet Style
European
Finish
High Polish: Ebony
Hardware
Solid brass: polished and lacquered.
Rim/Backframe
Mahogany foot-piece soundboard lining and backboard. Specially-designed grand-type mahogany closing rim; unequaled vertical strength and stability and improved acoustics. Backposts have staggered spacing to enhance tone and provide support where needed.
Braces/Posts
Full-length laminated mahogany posts assure that the backframe will remain straight and consistent and tuning will remain stable. Mahogany fill-blocks between posts at the top and bottom of the backframe, capped with a mahogany backboard for positive vertical alignment. Solid filler blocks (no hollow spots). 5 posts. Total cross sectional area: 477 cm2 (73.9 in2). Thickness of post: 9 cm (3½"). Width of post: (3) 9 cm (3½"), (2) 13 cm (5⅛").
Pinblock
Octagrip™ pinblock made of 11 layers of hard rock maple — glued in different grain angles of 60 degrees — affording the tuning pins greater stability under tension and enabling the piano to stay in tune longer.
Soundboard
Close and straight-grain solid (not laminated) Sitka spruce. Minimum 3 annual growth rings per cm (minimum 8 per inch). Tapered from treble to bass, to provide a rich tone in the bass, and a brilliant and crisp tone in the treble, creating a well-balanced and lasting tonal response. Tapered from 9 mm to 8 mm. Vibrating area: 1.14 m2 (1,767 in2). Closing rim evens out the soundboard’s response to all frequencies, eliminating “hot” spots. Emulates shape of grand soundboard.
Ribs
Made from durable spruce to assure strong and constant support of the strings bearing down on the soundboard. Ribs are fully let-in to the liner to support the important soundboard crown and prevent the piano from losing its tone. Number of ribs: 11
Bridges
Treble: Solid maple, curved to fit the crown of the soundboard. Bass: Solid maple mounted to cantilevered base. Doweled, glued, and screwed to soundboard. One continuous base and treble bridge.
Scale
Overstrung: Lower tension scale for longer sustaining tone and longer life of the whole piano. 17,633 kg (38,875 lb) tension.
Plate
Cast from grey iron, bronze-painted and lacquered. Vacuum cast.
Tuning Pins Nickel-plated steel, cut threaded.
Strings
Treble: Highest grade steel (in half size increments). Number of sizes: 13. Lowest tenor note: 30. Bass: Steel core wire wound with solid copper. Number 1 speaking length: 121.7 cm (47.9")
Hammers
Premium wool topfelt over premium wool underfelt. Weight of topfelt: 9.4 kg (20.8 lb). Compression-wired to retain permanent shape. Mahogany moldings. Hammer-shanks from select resilient maple or horn-beam. Computer-designed pear-shaped hammers with reinforced shoulders result in superior tone, increased durability and greater voicing ability.
Action
Solid maple (all wood, no plastic) for all moving parts. Extruded aluminum action rails for increased stability and less frequent regulation. Dependable direct-blow design.
Keys
Genuine spruce, individually balanced and weighted. Synthetic ivory and ebony key covers. Length of key: 40.3 cm (15.9").
Keybed
Made from laminated hardwood. Strong, rugged construction provides a solid mount for the keyframe and action allowing for precise and prolonged action regulation. Keybed thickness is 42 mm.
Keyframe
Spruce with hardwood inserts in the balance rail and front rail for added stability.
Pedals
Soft (half-blow), muffler, and sustaining (damper) pedals.
Other
Music desk: Professional music desk. Two-position upper panel for tone escapement and solid music support. Fallboard: Soft fall fallboard. Casters: Solid brass casters. Prop Sticks: Top prop sticks. Bench: Matching wood-top bench.