17-23 PLY RIMS

Mason & Hamlin pianos have the largest and strongest rims in the world. At first glance, this may appear excessive, but when Richard Gertz designed the Mason & Hamlin piano in 1895, he understood that the rim is foundational to the entire piano—a strong, dense rim will reflect the energy produced by the soundboard, thereby enhancing a piano’s power and sustain, while a thinner, weaker rim will absorb this energy and detract from the piano’s potential power and sustain.

FLAT-SAWN HARD ROCK MAPLE

Material choice is equally important when constructing a piano’s rim. Richard Gertz specifically chose Flat-Sawn Hard Rock Maple—one of the strongest and most expensive cuts of Hard Rock Maple—for the Mason & Hamlin rim. This material is no stranger to fine instruments—Stradivarius used Hard Rock Maple in the back and sides of his violins for its strong, robust qualities.

TWO RIM PROCESS

Mason & Hamlin's VX Series Grand pianos boast a two rim process, incorporating distinct inner and outer rims. This method, initiated at the start of construction, ensures a more precise assembly, resulting in a piano with enhanced sound quality and playability. To accomplish this, these pianos are built using a unique locating system which cannot be implemented in a single rim process. With this Mason & Hamlin locating system, the craftsman can establish more accurate placement of the various elements of the piano such as string height across the plate, precise bearing on the soundboard, and ultimately a more precise action setting. This meticulous approach to piano building is what sets Mason & Hamlin apart, ensuring each VX Series Grand piano delivers on our promise of acoustic excellence and responsive touch.

SOUNDBOARD

The soundboard is the centerpiece of a piano‘s essence. It is a thin, well-crafted piece of wood that, when subjected to vibrations of a string, is capable of producing the air pressure waves that we perceive as sound. It is the very heart of the instrument and essential to the unique voice of each piano.

EASTERN WHITE SPRUCE

The creation of a Mason & Hamlin soundboard begins with selection of the finest 300 year old, tight-grained, quarter-sawn Eastern White Spruce chosen for its acoustic properties. The soundboard undergoes a special conditioning process to dry and age it until it reaches the perfect equilibrium of moisture content. Such meticulous selection and preparation culminate in a soundboard capable of producing a sound that can be described as both sweet and powerful, melodic and thunderous.

MULTI-RADIUS CROWN

While being constructed from the finest material is an excellent start, a soundboard must be properly shaped to take advantage of its potential. This shape takes the form of crown, and is what gives a piano its vibrancy, focus, and clarity. Mason & Hamlin shapes the crown of our soundboards via cutting it directly into the ribs themselves. This method allows us to precisely control the shape of each rib, and is what makes our Multi-Radius Crown Soundboard possible. By starting with a large radius in the treble and steadily reducing it towards the bass, our soundboard is uniquely optimized for both the high frequency of treble notes, which require a stiffer soundboard for clear projection, as well as the low frequency of bass notes, who favor a flexible soundboard for full response.

EDGE TAPERING

The final part of our soundboard’s construction is a gradual tapering towards its edges. This makes the perimeter more flexible and enhances the soundboard’s performance—much like a speaker cone.

RIM CUT TO SOUNDBOARD

Since the soundboard is such an integral part of the piano, we cut the rim of our pianos to fit the precise shape of the soundboard. This ensures that the soundboard is able to move freely and prevents any binding strains from occurring, which causes deterioration of both the tone, as well as the life of the soundboard.

Bridge

Mason & Hamlin builds its bridges using continuous laminations of quarter-sawn Hard Rock Maple, which ensures that splitting or cracking does not occur near the bridge pins. This is the most efficient, uncompromising method to transfer sound energy from the strings to the soundboard, ensuring a full, robust sound that is inspirational to the pianist. Once the bridge is pressed and constructed, it is expertly hand-notched by one of Mason & Hamlin's most highly skilled craftsmen and ready for stringing.

TENSION RESONATOR

With such thoroughness and attention to detail put into our pianos, it is only natural to want them to last a lifetime and beyond. This thought to longevity is exactly why Mason & Hamlin’s unique Tension Resonator was developed. This ingenious device ensures that every measurement and dimension of our pianos remains unchanged through the passing of time and seasons.

Wessell, Nickel and Gross Composite Actions

During the Golden Era of pianos, Mason & Hamlin's finest instruments were equipped with Wessell, Nickel & Gross actions, the premier action of the time. In 2005, Mason & Hamlin undertook the revival of Wessell, Nickel & Gross, driven by the ambition to forge a piano action that deepens the connection between pianist and piano. This effort resulted in the world’s most advanced action, crafted from composite materials, offering the discerning pianist an exceptionally consistent, remarkably responsive, and distinctly sensitive playing experience.

Custom Natural Felt Hammers

For over three years, Mason & Hamlin developed a custom hammer for the Virtuoso X Series pianos, blending innovative design, natural felt and lightweight bamboo cores, for an exclusive hammer with consistent and immediate warm tone.

SCALE DESIGN

The foundational string scale designs of Mason & Hamlin pianos, crafted by the visionary Richard W. Gertz between 1900 and 1920 were celebrated for their exceptional harmonic warmth and the remarkable sonic power they delivered, captivating both pianists and audiences alike.

Diverging from the conventional approach employed by other piano manufacturers, who often adopt similar scale designs across their range, Mason & Hamlin stands apart by tailoring a unique scale design for each piano model. This meticulous customization is based on the length of the piano, ensuring the maximization of sound quality and tone, thereby enhancing the musical expression achievable by the pianist.

Today, with over 170 years of experience, Mason & Hamlin have refined and improved these impressive, original scale designs to provide today’s pianist with the very best Mason & Hamlin has to offer with superior tone, power, and musicality.

FULL-PERIMETER PLATE

Gray Iron’s stout capabilities are maximized through our plate’s thick webbing and full-perimeter design, making Mason & Hamlin’s plate the sturdiest and thickest in the industry. Combined with our 18-Ply Hard Rock Maple rim, Mason & Hamlin’s Full-Perimeter Plate more effectively reflects energy back onto the soundboard, resulting in increased volume and sustain of our trademark bell-like treble and thunderous bass.

SAND-CAST GRAY IRON

At any given moment, a piano plate is under 40-60 thousand pounds of pressure from its strings, which are trying to pull in on themselves. Needless to say this amount is not insignificant, and a plate must be expertly designed and crafted to be able to withstand this extraordinary level of force. Mason & Hamlin’s plates are just that—incredibly unyielding and stiff, beginning with their Gray Iron construction which is cast in green sand.

Keyboard

Each Mason & Hamlin keyboard is custom designed, fitted, and positioned for each piano model to give the pianist the highest level of articulation and control. Crafted from specially selected spruce, our keys provide the perfect balance and responsiveness, complemented by real ebony sharps. Our skilled technicians painstakingly position each hammer on the hammer shank, guaranteeing precise strikes on the strings, resulting in a resonant tone and an expansive dynamic range.

Pinblock

For over 100 years, Mason & Hamlin pinblocks have been carefully crafted with the highest-grade quarter-sawn Hard Rock Maple creating an excellent foundation for the tuning pins. We begin our process by pressing seven laminations together and carefully drying the block to an exact 6% humidity, which is then sprayed with a clear coat of polyurethane finish to lock out unwanted moisture. This produces an exceptional pinblock that keeps its tuning pins snug, yet allows the tuner to turn them smoothly.

Tunable Aliquots

Mason & Hamlin stands among the select piano manufacturers equipped with individually tunable aliquots, a distinctive feature allowing precise tuning of each string to achieve perfect pitch for every note. This meticulous attention to detail is just one of the many reasons Mason & Hamlin pianos are renowned for their exceptionally sweet and melodious sound.

Crown Retention System

The downward pressure placed on a piano’s soundboard is immense. If the piano rim moves even a business card’s thickness, the soundboard will lose its curvature, and the tone and power of the piano will go flat. To prevent this from occurring, Richard w. Gertz, famous piano designer, developed and patented the Crown Retention System in 1900. This four part exclusive system to Mason & Hamlin pianos permanently maintains the shape of the rim, protecting the soundboard and preserving power and tone of the piano.