Mapes Piano String Company – How Piano Strings are Made

Stephen Mapes established the Mapes Piano String Company in 1912 and shortly thereafter in 1918 it was purchased by John Adam Schaff. Now 4 generations later and employing 125 people in a space of 200,000 square feet, Mapes produces piano wire… Read More

Interview with Norbert Abel – Abel Hammer

Abel is world reknown specializing in hammer manufacturing. It was my pleasure to meet Norbert Abel last month and have him shed some light on the piano hammer making… Read More

Hailun Piano Innovation

Working with a translator, he showed me different concepts in his pianos. What caught my eye was this silver looking gleam under the keys on one of their upright pianos. As seen in the picture… Read More

Mason & Hamlin Features High Tech Components

When speaking earlier this year with Kirk Burgett, president of Mason & Hamlin and WNG, we touched on various aspects of their pianos that have been re-designed with ‘outside the box’ thinking. One such concept is hammer shanks… Read More

Making Bösendorfer More Austrian

When queried about this, he said that areas which had been outsourced are now being made in Austria. He referred me to the man who specializes in this at production level, Simon Oss (Premium Piano Market Development Manager for both Yamaha & Bösendorfer)… Read More

Testing Pianos Like a Pro

Going back just over 20 years, I was a new upstart that just got hired by the local piano store. With 2 Classical degrees behind me I felt confident I knew my way around the keyboard. Fortunately my boss at the time… Read More

Weickert Felt for Hammers

But this one man’s company has single-handedly infiltrated most of the major names of pianos in the world. 200,000 pianos per year to be exact! Who is he? Jack Brand.… Read More

Michael Spreeman – Ravenscroft Piano Interview

This month I had the great privilege of interviewing Michael Spreeman, owner and founder of Ravenscroft pianos. They are a new addition… Read More

Latest Cosmetic Trends in Pianos

To prove artistry and craftsmanship in the late 1800’s, pianos were intricately and ornately carved. As the Victorian era ended and we were ushered into the 20th century, many of the older piano legs were swapped for simplistic ones to stay ‘modern’. The advent… Read More