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| Built in America since 1854 | Built in America since 1862 | Built in S. Korea Since 1956 | Built in China since 1956 | Started in America in 1982 | |
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There are different ways to build a grand piano, but all manufacturers agree there are proven methods that are best.
The Rim A grand piano starts with the rim of the piano. A rim has two parts - an inner rim and an outer rim.
The stability of the inner rim is so important that one manufacturer takes an added precaution. To ensure the rim's shape Mason & Hamlin adds a tension resonating system. This holds the crown of the soundboard and ensures a beautiful tone for generations to come.
The Soundboard & Bridge
A world-class piano soundboard should be made of a close grain, quarter-sawn, white spruce. Sitka spruce is never used in top-rated pianos. Again, if you look at a manufacturers best, most expensive piano this is always the case. The bridge should be vertically laminated. It is said by many piano designers that the bridge is heart of the piano.
The Plate
Another method, becoming very popular with mass-produced pianos, is called Vacuum Processing (V-Pro). The purpose of the piano plate is to hold the tension of the piano strings. Both of these types of plates serve this purpose. So what is the difference? When metal cools slower, as in the sand-casting process, it is more dense, therefore it will produces less-obtrusive overtones. This allows the strings and the soundboard to produce the best tone possible. A sand-cast plate comes out rough and course, requiring time-consuming sanding. Few manufacturers are willing to bear this cost except on their very best pianos. World-class pianos use only sand cast plates. A sand-cast plate cools at a much slower rate than does a V-Pro plate. For a manufacturer that is making 50,000 - 100,000 pianos a year, a V-Pro plate can be a huge cost and time saver. Unfortunately, V-Pro plates produce unwanted overtones. Many piano players refer these overtones by stating that the piano is bright or tinny.
Regulating
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The rims (especially in the inner rim) should be made of very dense hardwood. The preferred hardwoods used in world-class pianos are maple or beech. The rim provides stability and strength to the overall tone of the piano. A strong, thick rim enables the other components of the piano to work to their fullest potential. A weaker Mahogany or Luan rim is used by some manufacturers in their less expensive pianos. These same manufacturers use maple or beech in their best, most expensive pianos.
