Carl Sauter Pianofortemanufaktur GmbH & Co. KG
Max-Planck-Strasse 20
78549 Spaichingen
Germany
+49-7424-94820
+49-7424-948238 (fax)
info@sauter-pianos.de
www.sauter-pianos.de

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The Sauter piano firm was founded in 1819 by Johann Grimm, stepfather to Carl Sauter I, and has been owned and managed by members of the Sauter family for six generations. The factory produces about 500 vertical and grand pianos a year in its factory in the extreme south of Germany, at the foot of the Alps. Structural and acoustical parts are made of high-quality woods, including solid Bavarian spruce soundboards and beech pinblocks. Actions are made by Renner. The keybed is reinforced with steel to prevent warping, and all pianos are fully tropicalized for humid climates. The larger verticals use an action, designed and patented by Sauter, that contains an auxiliary jack spring to aid in faster repetition. Sauter calls this the R2 Double Escapement action. (Although the term double escapement does not apply here as it has historically been used, the mechanism has some of the same effects.)

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Sauter pianos are especially known for their lush, full, singing tone, and for the variety of finishes and styles in which they are available, many with intricate detail and inlay work. It is common to find such rare woods as yew, burl walnut, pyramid mahogany, and genuine ebony in the cabinets of Sauter pianos, as well as special engravings, which can be customized to any customer’s desires. Sauter’s M Line of vertical pianos features exclusive cabinet detailing and built-in features such as a hygrometer to measure relative humidity.

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The company also has introduced versions of its 48" upright and 6' 11" and 7' 6" grands with cabinets designed by the famous European designer Peter Maly. Some recent designs include the 48" upright Vitrea, after the Latin word for glass, with a veneer of greenish glass covering the front of the cabinet; Vivace, a 6' 11" grand in a contemporary style with steel leg frame and inlays of stainless-steel squares on the rim; and Ambiente, a 7' 6" grand that is asymmetrically curved on both the bass and treble sides. In the recent past, Sauter has won several prestigious design awards for its Peter Maly– designed pianos.

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A couple of extremely unusual models bear mentioning. The 7' 3" model 220 has colored lines painted on the soundboard and white inlays on the tops of the dampers as guides for musicians performing music for “prepared piano,” ultramodern music requiring the insertion of foreign objects between the strings, or the plucking or striking of strings directly by the performer. The 1/16-tone microtonal piano is an upright with 97 keys that has a total pitch range, from its lowest to its highest note, of only one octave, the pitch difference from key to key being only 1/16 of a tone (1/8 of a semitone). You can read more about these strange instruments in The Piano Book.

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Warranty: 5 years, parts and labor, to original purchaser.

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See the Introduction to Brand Profiles, Models, and Prices for an explanation of pricing.