BentleyModel Compact 85

Bentley Compact 85 — a small English upright, 100 cm tall, in satin oak.

Bentley was a maker from Stroud in Gloucestershire and built mainly compact uprights for homes and schools; the name Compact says what it is about. At 100 cm this is about as low as an upright sensibly goes: the bass strings are shorter than on a 120 cm instrument and the bass is lighter to match, but it takes up hardly any wall.

It has 85 keys instead of 88 — the top three are missing. For teaching and for nearly all the repertoire that makes no difference; anyone who needs the very highest notes will notice. Two pedals: the right holds the note, the left softens it.

Satin oak is light and forgiving; fingerprints and small scratches hardly show, and a dry cloth is enough.

For a child's room, a small flat, a holiday home: 139 cm wide, 52 cm deep, about 0.7 m² against the wall with the stool. At 180 kg two strong people can carry it with straps — on a staircase, piano movers are still the better choice. Keep it away from radiators and sun: swings in humidity put it out of tune.