Yamaha B3 Silent

The Yamaha b3 is the largest of Yamaha's b series uprights, standing 121cm tall, which is the same height as the U1. This example is fitted with Yamaha's Silent system, and that combination answers the problem most families run into: wanting a real acoustic piano, in a house where practice cannot happen at every hour of the day.

Played normally it is an ordinary acoustic piano, with strings, hammers, and a soundboard. Engage the Silent system and a stopper catches the hammers just before they reach the strings, while optical sensors under all 88 keys read exactly what your fingers are doing and feed it to Yamaha's CFX concert grand samples through headphones. The action still moves and escapes as it always does, so the touch under your hands is unchanged. Presented in black polyester, this instrument has been assessed and prepared by our team at The Piano Gallery.

Available to purchase online or to try in person at our Oxfordshire showroom. Contact us to arrange a viewing or to discuss delivery and part-exchange options.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Yamaha Silent system actually work?

A hammer stopper rail moves into place and arrests the hammers a fraction before they would strike the strings, so the piano makes no note. Because the action is allowed to escape normally, the weight and response of the keys feel exactly as they do in acoustic mode. Optical sensors sit under every key and read the movement without touching anything, which means they add no friction and cannot alter the touch. The pedals are sensed too. What you hear through the headphones is a recording of a Yamaha CFX concert grand, sampled note by note.

Is a Silent piano genuinely silent?

Not literally, and it is better to know that in advance. The strings are stopped, so nothing carries through the house the way a played piano does, and that is the point of the system. What remains is the soft mechanical tap of the action and the keys themselves, roughly comparable to somebody typing. In the same room you will hear it. Through a wall or a floor, in practice, you will not.

Where does the b3 sit in Yamaha's range?

The b series is Yamaha's entry-level upright line, sitting below the U series, and the b3 is the largest of the three at 121cm. The b1 is 109cm and the b2 is 113cm, so the b3 gives you noticeably more string length and soundboard than either. It shares its 121cm frame height with the U1, and a number of components including the hammers. It is designed in Japan and built in Yamaha's Indonesian factory.

Why choose this over a good digital piano?

Because you get both, and the acoustic half is real. A digital piano simulates a hammer action; here the hammer action is genuine, because it is an acoustic piano, and that is what develops touch, weight, and control properly. The Silent system then gives you the headphone practice, the volume control, and the late-night option that make a digital appealing in the first place. For a family weighing an upright against a digital and struggling to choose, a Silent piano is usually the honest answer to both.

Can it still be played and maintained as a normal piano?

Yes. In acoustic mode it is simply a Yamaha b3, and it needs the same care as any upright: tuning twice a year in normal use, a position away from radiators, external walls, and damp, and occasional regulation. The Silent electronics are separate from that and need no routine servicing. We can confirm which generation of the Silent system is fitted to this particular instrument, and demonstrate it for you in the showroom.