My father, a professional jazz and classical pianist, was a Kawai fan. He bought his first K. Kawai grand piano, I believe a 6′ 6″ model, in 1982, after he bought his house in Seattle, WA. A few years later, he sold it to a good friend and bought a 7′ 4″ K. Kawai to replace it. He kept that piano until his death in late 2015 and played it daily, even at the age of 83. Shortly after purchase, he modified his 7′ 4″ model a bit to reflect what his ear liked. One of those modifications was Steinway bass strings, for the additional power in the lower registers. Another was, as he described it, “Yamaha felt” on some of the hammers (if memory serves, the lower- and middle-ranges) because he preferred the somewhat brighter resultant sound. I happen to be a drummer, taught musically by him, and I had to agree with his assessment. Those modifications really did open up the sound some. Of course, this work was done by a proper, experienced piano technician. After his untimely death in 2015, there was a studio, which specializes in acoustic music, that was interested in it. The piano technician who evaluated it for the studio said that, had he been the less honorable type, he would’ve bought it out from under the studio! Today, “Dad’s piano” continues to make music as a top-notch studio piano, which is, I believe, exactly the proper fate for it and something that would’ve pleased Dad greatly. A piano, especially of this quality, is meant to be played, and played often.
