85 note pianos

[Stan Kroeker]

Speaking (typing?) from my experience with Samick, which until a few years
ago made a nice little 85 note console (SU-108S), I believe that this type
of anomaly was designed for marketing sleight of hand.  This model was
marginally larger (1 inch) than the SU-105 model, which had 88 keys.
Wholesale cost to the dealer was roughly the same on both models and
several dealers reported great success in selling one off of the other.
The strategy was to shift the emphasis from whether or not the customer
would buy to which model they would buy.  They could have greater tonal
quality (ostensibly) but three fewer keys in the 108S, or less tonal
quality but a full 88 note keyboard in the 105, for the same price.

As this model was aimed at the first-time buyer, repertoire which might
require the top three notes was largely a non-issue.

Best regards,

Stan Kroeker, RPT
On the rapidly thawing Canadian prairie