Hours: Mon-Sat 10AM-6PM | Closed Sundays
509-327-4266
Hours: Mon-Sat 10AM-6PM | Closed Sundays
509-327-4266
If one understands how a pianos works from the foundation – up and understands why certain materials are used it becomes fairly easy to determine quality levels among different piano models.
A good tuning and voicing on an inferior constructed piano can make it sound good for a while. However, a better constructed piano performs at a high level for years down the road. Side by side (with both pianos tuned and prepped properly) you’ll be able to hear, feel and see the difference with a better constructed piano.
Although a higher priced piano within the same brand may be higher quality within their models, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better than competitive pianos that are less expensive. Another brand’s less expensive piano may be better constructed than the first brand’s most expensive model!
By the end of this page you will be empowered with the information you need to make an educated decision.
Full disclosure: We are a STEINWAY & SONS piano dealer. STEINWAY is chosen by 95-98% of concert artist every year for their performances. STEINWAY dominates the market at the highest level more than any other industry. An industry with the most discerning critics. They have had and held more patents on the modern piano than anyone else.
STEINWAY does many things to elevate their pianos to the top of the preference list. Many premium features on other piano brands started with or were patented by STEINWAY & SONS at some point in time.
Having said that, for this page, we will focus on those things most all piano makers agree upon. STEINWAY takes most these features and enhances them. Come visit us for a deeper demonstration.
Because an upright piano’s construction is based off a grand piano, we will use a grand piano in most of the explanations.
The grand piano rim is constructed of layers of wood. The best material for rim building is Maple or Beech. These *hardwoods are used for their DENSE and TONAL qualities.
*Simply stating a rim uses hardwoods is ambiguous and meaningless. It’s the denseness and tonal properties of Maple or Beech that make the difference.
In general, hardwoods come from deciduous trees which lose their leaves annually. Softwoods come from conifers, which usually remains evergreen. So all hardwoods are different when it comes to how porous and dense they are. They are NOT all equal.
Uprights: Several sturdy, large back posts on an upright provide stability and allow the soundboard to vibrate more freely. Staggering the back posts is a Steinway-designed feature placing them where the tension is most high. (unique to all Steinway-designed pianos)
The inner rim is where the soundboard is glued and is a critical part in the capture of tone.
When a note is played, the soundboard vibrates. These vibrations ripple through the soundboard and out to all the edges. A Maple Inner Rim helps force the vibrations back to the soundboard allowing longer sustain and resulting in a wider dynamic range.
The outer rim provides reinforcement for the inner rim. The inner and outer-most layer is reserved for the finish of the piano.
Unique feature: STEINWAY & SONS grand pianos use layers of Maple on both the inner and outer rims and form them all at once.
*Most every manufacturer makes a piano with a denser maple inner rim. It’s just a matter of what price you have to pay to obtain it. Everyone agrees this makes a better piano.
Having the soundboard made out of solid spruce is the first step. But there’s a lot more to it. That’s a bit like saying a car has tires. There can be a drastic difference in quality.
THE SCIENCE
Think back to those early science classes in elementary or middle school where you learned about tree growth. When you cut a tree in half, you can count the rings telling you how old the tree is. You can also look how close the rings are together. This tells you how fast or slow the tree grew.
The closer the rings are together, the slower it grew. It also makes it stronger. These trees are more expensive so not every piano uses the best quality spruce.
TIGHT GRAIN
A good quality soundboard should have very tight grain. (or grain that is close together) Soundwaves travel through the grain. A tight grain allows more of the sound to be captured; thus producing a longer sustain and better tone.
TAPERED
A good quality soundboard will be tapered. This allows more vibrations and longer sustain. Thus producing a richer, fuller tone.
An advanced version of tapering, The Diaphragmatic Tapered Soundboard, was originally patented by STEINWAY & SONS in 1936.
*Most every manufacturer makes a piano with this feature. It’s just a matter of what price you have to pay to obtain it. Everyone agrees this makes a better piano.
When a hammer strikes the string of a piano, that tone begins to decay. The purpose of everything under the lid of a piano is to capture as much of that tone before it goes away.
The first contact for those string vibrations is the bridge.
There are essentially two types of bridges made in modern pianos these days; a bridge made of a solid piece of wood with a cap or a bridge that is pieces of wood vertically laminated together with a cap.
The difference is quite simple. The premium feature, vertically laminated bridge, is stronger and takes the tone from the string down to the soundboard several times faster that a solid bridge.
Many piano companies choose to leave this upgrade feature off their upright pianos and several models of their lower prices grand pianos.
The vertically laminated bridge was originally patented by STEINWAY & SONS in 1880.
*Most every manufacturer makes a piano with this feature. It’s just a matter of what price you have to pay to obtain it. Everyone agrees this makes a better piano.
A duplex scale design can enhance the treble section of the piano so that it projects and sings to balance out the bass section.
This is done by tuning the aliquot of string between the bridge pin and the hitch pin on the plate. You’ll notice a shinny silver bar with various mounds where the strings goes over. These are strategically placed to create a harmony with the tuning of that string.
This is a feature generally found on grand pianos and is an easy one to spot.
A good rule of thumb is if the manufacturer is cutting costs by not providing this feature that you can see, they are most likely cutting costs where you cannot.
The Duplex Scale was originally patented by STEINWAY & SONS in 1872.
*Most every manufacturer makes a piano with this feature. It’s just a matter of what price you have to pay to obtain it. Everyone agrees this makes a better piano.
One of the most common statements we get in this industry is customers want something that will last and hold value.
One of the most common “upgrade” features manufacturers offer is Hammers With Underfelting.
This is exactly want it sounds like. It is a regular piano hammer but with a dense underfelt. It is easy to spot as it’s usually a darker colored felt such as red or purple.
This extra felt gives you the ability to have more control over your playing and increases your ability to widen your dynamic range. It will also help the hammers to hold their shape and last longer.
As stated before, if the manufacturer is cutting costs by not providing this feature that you can see, they are most likely cutting costs where you cannot.
*Most every manufacturer makes a piano with this feature. It’s just a matter of what price you have to pay to obtain it. Everyone agrees this makes a better piano.
The Sostenuto pedal is that middle pedal on a grand piano. Many people ask us what it’s used for.
The sostenuto pedal allows you to sustain a selected group of notes by pressing the desired keys down and then engaging the sostenuto pedal. This will free up your hands to play other notes un-sustained.
Many people purchase less expensive grand pianos because they feel they’d never have need for or use this feature. And if it was the only feature missing, maybe you wouldn’t miss much.
Unfortunately the piano that doesn’t have this feature will not have most premium features. And…you CAN spend about the same amount (if not less) and get this and other premium features.
*Most every manufacturer makes a piano with this feature. It’s just a matter of what price you have to pay to obtain it. Everyone agrees this makes a better piano.
Steinway & Sons has always and will always continue to improve, enhance and produce the best piano in the world. Stop by our showroom for a more in-depth understand of what separates NEW Steinway pianos from all others.
An Example to Consider
People once recommended Blackberry cell phones as the best phone and value. Does that make it is the best recommendation today? Of course not. If fact most of the phones that are rated higher quality and value today didn’t even exist when Blackberry was #1.
The same goes with the piano industry. Some brands that used to be highly recommended in the 80s and early 90s are being out-built, out-priced and out-performed by pianos that didn’t exist 20-30 years ago.
STEINWAY-DESIGNED pianos have changed the piano purchasing landscape. Premium features didn’t used to be offered on lower priced pianos so very few people talked about them when recommending a piano.
CONGRATULATIONS
If you’ve read through this page, you probably know more than those “piano experts” you were thinking of asking for advice and a lot of sales people. Unfortunately – we are sure you will still be recommended pianos by those who haven’t.
This is one of the few industries that you can pay more for less. A LOT MORE. And as you can see below, major piano makers all agree on these features.
It’s not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of what price they give them to you.
The Premier Piano Showroom Of The Inland Northwest