Made in Haverhill: Mason and Hamlin Piano Company Tour

Join us as we visit the Mason and Hamlin Piano Company, maker of concert grand pianos for over 160 years, and learn how a piano is built from the ground up.

[@zeus6793]

My mother was born in 1924 and began taking piano lessons fairly young. She quickly showed potential, so my grandfather decided to get her a piano. In Boston, in the 1930s, there were a great deal of estate sales, due to all the Beacon Hill residents losing their fortunes in the Depression. My Grandfather happened upon one such sale, and was able to purchase a Mason & Hamlin "parlor" grand piano that was built in 1900. From that day, my mother had that piano in her home, until she was 85. Through the New England Conservatory, through 30 years of teaching children and adults out of the living room of our house, that piano filled our home with the music of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Mozart, and in her fun time, some Joplin, Debussy, Gershwin, and later, even the Beatles. Through the 60's and 70's all of us taking lessons, and loving that piano that took up half the living room. I played under it with our cocker spaniel, and sometimes put my army men up in the wooden beams and legs of the massive mahogany instrument (much to my mother's chagrin). When my folks retired to Florida in 1991, they took the piano with them.. my mother would never be without it, and she played it for many years, until her frail hands were no longer strong enough to play and it became an dangerous obstacle that took up too much room. My brother took the piano and had it completely repaired and restored, from the sounding board, to the keys, to the wood....everything. That Mason & Hamlin sounds like it did when my mother first played it - and it is a treasured member of the family.

[@dankelley1248]

Mason & Hamlin uses a proprietary patented design so unique, the nuances and rich pleasant tone exceeds any other piano on the market today. My first experience was with the 7' BB grand piano in 1972. I am a former Divisional Vice-President for the Baldwin Piano & Organ Company for their subsidiary company, The Wurlitzer Company. I am both an accomplished pianist and Master Piano Technician. Mason & Hamlin pianos are handcrafted to a standard of quality rather than mass production line approaches from many of the Japanese and Korean made pianos. Mason & Hamlin pianos have the most incredible tone and touch, clarity and rich deep bass sound unmatched by any others including Steinway & Sons of comparable length grands. Should you be considering a new piano, you will never regret buying a Mason & Hamlin. Dan Kelley

[@benjaminsmith2287]

The high-end Japanese pianos, the Shigeru Kawai and Yamaha CF have just as much hand building as the Mason and Hamlins. But that doesn't mean their more production pianos lack quality. Plus, there is hand-finishing of all pianos, production or not. I love Mason and Hamlins but I love great pianos. We all have our preferences.

[@ronb6182]

I like the older Mason Hamlin pianos better you cannot get anything better with new wood. As the wood ages the sound gets better. I saw one of these pianos and heard how well it sounds. New is definitely not better. All these jap pianos cannot compare with the sound quality. 73

[@ronb6182]

You said it. No other piano has that device. Between that and the old aged wood you cannot find a finer instrument. Hope I can locate one for sale that was taken care of. When I move no sense buying one now and have to pay someone to move it. Piano moving is just not packing it well it requires alot of care. 73

[@davidbee8178]

Wish I lived closer to Haverhill - (live in Montreal) I'd be over there drooling over these gorgeous pianos on a daily basis : ) This is one of THE American classic and CLASSIEST names of all time. Glad they kept the brand alive while making it better than ever with technology like the resonator (around for several years) and carbon fibre action parts (new) that will make a piano last for generations. If one is looking for tone and playability (AND longevity!) while factoring out the "snob appeal" related to another well recognized American piano brand from New York (wink wink), then Mason and Hamelin should definitely be on one's VERY short shopping list. One good listen while playing a favourite piece will say WAY more to a prospective buyer than any words written here or anywhere else.

[@benjaminsmith2287]

Bravo, David.

[@Flstudiog-d]

i live in montreal too, getting a mason and hamlin next week :)

[@inspectorraycharles]

No mention of Wessell Nickel and Gross. Seems pretty significant to me.

[@luilui2121]

Thank You for Sharing. Mason & Hamlin are amazing pianos!!!!

[@donteach2288]

Worlds greatest piano is the Mason Hamlin. I have three of them. Wish they would bring back the A-9 scale model.

[@ejshelby5460]

"people from 100 years ago would understand this process perfectly, but i don't know why am i wasting breath on you." :)

[@grubbetuchus]

Great factory making amazing pianos. Show more of the finishing department, please.

[@paxwallacejazz]

Now I am Mason & Hamlin's biggest fan since Cornish; which was having their beautiful old stage piano rebuilt by a great elder Seattle technician while I was in music school. I used to spend hours every week hanging out with him while he explained the differences between the American and European piano strategies for tone production etc. Now that said all serious pianists should ( I'm told) check out the New Bechsteins! They are no longer re-inventing the past. They've recently made some amazing sonic break throughs that have Steinway shaking in their boots. They aren't your Grandpa's Bechsteins anymore, so I'm told.

[@benjaminsmith2287]

This is a really good tour. I see the same things basically that I see with all the hand-builts. But it's interesting he says there are some CNC machining processes involved. However, Bruce Clark really explains things well about the process and the why of each step. I'm glad the question of who buys the piano was asked. HIs response was professional musicians. I like that. A lot of people buy other brands for prestige, and sadly use the piano as furniture. You see how much goes into it to make it a musical instrument? It's an insult to all that work so hard to make a gorgeous musical instrument to ever use these mostly hand-made pianos as furniture.

[@paxwallacejazz]

The American philosophy is to make a rim that will reject the vibration simultaneously rebounding the vibration back into the soundboard where it will do the most good and into the air as sound as opposed to the Bösendorfer approach which is to build a soundboard that takes in the vibration and resonates sympathetically with the soundboard sapping acoustical energy but theoretically prolonging sustain. No one however could ever complain about the singing sustain of Mason and Hamlin or Steinway. Both pianos capable of a kind of explosive expressive exuberance European pianos don't possess. RADIAL TENSIONER rules! found only on Mason and Hamlin. Actually if I've gotten it wrong or over simplified anything please let me know!

[@hopfen33]

I've played a lot of pianos. ..In my opinion the best pianos are those from Mason & Hamlin and from Steingraeber & Söhne (Germany). I can not say which one I like more ... Try it :-)

[@colinmurphy2214]

12:12 no it wasn’t. Rosewood and mahogany were the most popular in Victorian times, in pre-Victorian times there was no such thing as a “Zero grain finish” it’s only since about the 1950s that black pianos have overtaken natural wood grain finishes, and even though he makes it sound like it’s a really expensive and exclusive finish, it’s really not. It’s just black polyester. Back in Victorian times satin black pianos were around, but they were just the same as a normal wood colored piano, but they were stained black. They had the layers of veneer on top of the rim even though the beautiful wood wouldn’t even be visible. That was dedication to quality. Nowadays most manufacturers do the black finish so they can skip the expensive veneering process. He even says later in the video that the wood finishes cost more. I don’t like the way he misleads about the black finish

[@paxwallacejazz]

M's Compositions The reason for Rock Maple is acoustic because it has the opposite accoustical signiture as spruce the wood of the soundboard.

[@colinmurphy2214]

paxwallacejazz what are you talking about?

[@gregm.857]

Interesting video. I would like to see a lot more detail of the action and aliquot stringing ... seems like you glossed over those, but that's what makes it a piano! I don't really care if it's shiny or not. And what is the function of the ditzy "interviewer" who is in and out of random shots, mostly nodding and making irrelevant comments?

[@befuturenow]

Glossed WAY over soundboard construction/installation detail! Quick mention of wood type/thickness then straight on to ribs, and that's it...questionable omission of VERY important details here! Are M&H soundboards edge-laminated or ply? No it doesn't go without saying! How is that jointing done? How is the overall process of making them executed? How is crowning done? At the M&H factory or third party?

[@ejshelby5460]

rock artists can jump on the piano as much as they want