🎹 A Musical Time Capsule: The 118-Year Legacy of a Mason and Hamlin AA Grand Piano 🎹

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This boston built, 150 year old, AA grand piano, built by Mason and Hamlin, one of the few remaining North American manufacturers, has been completely restored. Mason and Hamlin has been focused on their WNG carbon fibre action that borrows, in a general sense, from the Kawai Millenium III, but has added features like its carbon fibre shanks. This new action has been made available to rebuilders, so this 118 year old piano has one of the most lightweight and interesting actions.

Mason and Hamlin, a well-respected manufacturer back to the turn of the 20th century, introduced technical innovations such as the tension resonator, a device in the belly of the instrument to maintain lateral tension on the rim. They also implemented extraordinarily thick rims that are continuously bent, meaning no inner or outer rim, a feature found in Steinway pianos as well. Another innovation was the use of full perimeter plates and a lot of steel to create extra rigidity on the top of the frame. Finally, while not the widest tail at the time, they used a wider tail than most to provide more soundboard to generate the tone.

Playing a great restoration is like playing a time machine. If the work has been done at a really high level, you can enjoy playing an instrument the way it would have behaved when first produced. While this piano has a wholly new action, this does not affect the tone so much as the tactile response.

This particular instrument is very colourful with a lot of dark tones, a strong bass range, and a sustain that once at the mezzo piano range sounds like it is no longer decaying.

We love being able to share these types of instruments. Those with both musical and mechanical points of interest are fun to share.

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