American Craftsmanship
Mason & Hamlin’s VX Series pianos are constructed with the same philosophy of our founders that made Mason & Hamlin the World’s Finest Piano: use only the finest materials and craftmanship to create pianos that meet the exacting demands of discerning and experienced artists. These premier American pianos, handcrafted with meticulous attention to detail, take over 12 months to complete, continuing a tradition of excellence. Each VX Series piano stands as a testament to generations of piano mastery, offering unmatched quality and a distinctive experience for passionate musicians.
By choosing Mason & Hamlin, musicians become a part of an American piano heritage that values not only the artistry of performance but also the artistry of creation, where each piano is a masterpiece of sound, longevity, and American innovation
1920s Boston, MA
2020s Haverhill, MA
Materials & Design
The iconic Mason & Hamlin VX Series sound is not created by a single element; it is a symphony of historical designs, uncompromising materials, an innovative piano action, and meticulous craftsmanship—all of these together create the distinctive and signature American orchestral, rich, and resonating sound.
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.
Since every Mason & Hamlin piano incorporates each of these elements of design into our soundboards—Eastern White Spruce, Multi-Radius Crown, Edge Tapering, rims cut to the shape of the soundboard, and our exclusive Tension Resonator—it is no wonder that Mason & Hamlin pianos over 100 years old still have crown and play with the same vibrancy and life as the day they first arrived, and that Mason & Hamlin is still considered the Finest Piano in the World.
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.
Composite Repetition
Responsive Control
The unique shape of our composite repetition moves the center of gravity toward the center pin, dramatically reducing the rotational weight. This makes the action lighter to play and creates an exceptionally responsive, silky smooth feel every time you play a note.
Unique Heel Geometry
Consistent Touch
Unlike the fixed shape of wooden parts, we are able to customize the heel height for each repetition for the different natural and sharp keys, producing a smooth, consistent rolling effect from note to note.
Epoxy Carbon Fiber Shanks
Expanded Dynamic Range
Wood strength even in a single set of wooden shanks can vary greatly, affecting performance by producing notes that are louder or softer than others. Our epoxy carbon fiber shanks completely eliminate this issue of sound variation. Our uniform, precisely crafted shanks enhance the tone and volume of the piano and ensure consistent volume.
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.
100% Long-Length
Felt Fibers
With 100% long-length felt fibers made from high-quality merino wool, these hammers adapt efficiently to adjustments including filing, needling, and the application of light chemicals, reaching optimal voicing and tone. Designed for a wide spectrum of sounds, from bright to mellow, these hammers offer a diverse and dynamic tonal pallet perfect for producing the classic, sweet lyrical treble, singing tenor, and deep, growling bass that defines a Mason & Hamlin piano.
Hard Bushings
Reliable Performance
Every Wessell, Nickel & Gross action uses hard bushings, which, unlike felt bushings, do not change with humidity, and are completely impervious to moisture. This departure from felt ensures that your piano will have a consistent touch and feel through all seasons, substantially reducing the cost and headache of maintenance and regulation.
Hard Adonized Parts
Lasting Touch and Feel
Hard Anodized Capstans, Balance Rail, and Key pins create a friction-free surface that will never tarnish, completely eliminating the need for repolishing and will last for well over 20 years.
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.
