Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum New Mason&Hamlin 9'4" Concert Grand--Any Feedback?

Thank you everybody for the feedback and photos. I spoke with the CC 9'4 owner and he has indicated that he is selling the piano way under his actual cost because of his floorplan credit lines being called (because the floorplan company is going out of business and is calling all its loans). The seller has been in business 35 years and has always made his payments but now must sell the piano fast to pay off his floorplan and therefore the below cost price. I am waiting for word on my crashed piano, which may be repaired (still have not heard yet). Is not $55,000 a great deal for this?--According to Blue Book of pianos the list on the piano is $97,500. Anybody know? Thanks, Gary

Sounds good to me, based on the list price you quoted!

Yes Gary - $55,000 is a great deal. The piano normally retails for around $100,000. But the more important question is - do you really LOVE the instrument?? There's no point in buying it just because its a good deal.

I hate to mention this, seeing as how much extraordinary work went into an already extraordinary piano, not to mention the wonderful performance... ... but I find the recording itself is almost unlistenable. I see a microphone attached to the interior of the piano; however there must have been another microphone further out in the room - either that, or there is a bad echo. I seem to hear the notes sound, before I hear the attack.

If there is another video of a CC94 or a CC2 with better audio, I'd love to hear it!

The street price for the CC is around 70K. 100K is the approximate price before any discount.

pianoloverus - I realize that it is quite rare for anyone to purchase a piano at the "pre-discount" retail price these days. My experience has been that piano dealers will try to get what they can for any instrument. If they can convince someone to purchase a CC for $100,000 then more power to them - and they still come out ahead if they sell it for $70,000. Nevertheless, $55,000 for one of these puppies - NEW - ain't bad. And if I were in a position to purchase one I'd try to get the price even lower !! Fortunately I already own a BB (which I purchased new at a greatly discounted price) - and which overwhelms my small living room - both in size and volume. But it sure is great !!

Hi Gary,

Regarding the CC, you may want to check with Cecil Ramirez at Mason & Hamlin to verify the following:
- Manufacture date of the piano based on its serial number
- History of the piano
- Whether the current dealer is an authorized dealer for M&H or not

I think you may also want to consider the list price from the year of manufacture instead of today's list price.

Another piano you may want to check out is the 2005 Estonia L273 that Mathis Music in FL is selling for $32K.
I'm not sure what is the list price for L273 in 2005, the 2003/2004 Piano Book Supplement listed it for $65K and the 2007/2008 Supplement listed it for $87K,... Maybe someone who has the 2004/2005 or 2005/2006 supplement can chime in.

Good luck,

Robert

Thanks for the tips Robert (H.) I had seen the Estonia on Ebay and the general internet and it seemed to be the best buy out there! I did speak with Tom Mathis nearly two weeks ago about the Estonia . The Estonia Concert Grand has already been sold to a retirement home. It was the day before he was closing his shop for good. Mathis Music is now completely closed down and he is moving to Maryland to sell pianos for another company. Mr. Mathis indicated he had been in business 30 years and had been blessed with 27 good years but that the last 3 could not be overcome due to the slowdown in the Florida economy.

It is so unfortunate how many piano dealers have fallen due to the economy. I think the dealer with the Mason Hamlin CC94 is in much the same position of trying to hang in there. From what I gather the slow economy and the calling of his floorplan loans is jeopordizing his ability to hang in there and that is why he is just trying to get out from under the piano.

Regarding the Mason Hamlin, I will check as you suggested regarding the dealership affiliation. Based on the conversation I had with the store owner he was a M & H dealer and had been to the factory in Massachusetts. I will need to verify the year of manufacture but believe it is definitely not a 2009. He has had it in his store and it has never left. It was apparently ordered by an institution and then the donor who was to pay for it changed their mind in one form or another and the store owner has sat on it since. The piano is in Calgary (Alberta), Canada. Calgary has an oil based economy and since the dive in oil prices last year the store owner says the piano business has been rough! I live in Tennessee and was sold it could be shipped to me (including insurance) for $900-$1,000 plus a total tax of 5% of the sale price.

Over the weekend I did ask about the power of the bass of the CC94. The store owner said it has a booming bass! He plays piano and bass guitar too...said he is particularly interested in the bass of a piano because of playing the bass guitar.

If anyone else has experience with the CC94 I would love to get your feedback and thoughts. Thanks, Gary

[quote=whippen boy
If there is another video of a CC94 or a CC2 with better audio, I'd love to hear it! [/quote]

I found another recording. Again with Shaun Tirrell playing but on a different chanel than youtube.

It does not show off the bass Gary Allen, but does show the beautiful tone of the MH CC.

To me, not one piano touches the Mason Bass though!

Click on High Quality Scarlatti

http://www.truveo.com/Shaun-Tirrell-Scarlatti-HQ/id/1335166816

If you are thinking on purchasing it I think as a minimum you should play some new Masons even if they are not the CC4. As I said earlier, IMO the tone on all the new Masons is somewhat similar, except the tone improves with length.

So if you can play a BB, you will have a reasonable idea if the Mason tone appeals to you. If it doesn't then there not much point in purchasing it just because it's great deal. If you decide to purchase it, I would have an independent tech check it out...a small price to pay considering its cost and the fact that you are buying a 55K piano without playing it.

Gary, if it's a CC94, it can't be THAT old. IIRC, they only started being produced something like 5 years ago. When the PianoWorld crew first visited the M&H factory a few years back, the CC94 was just a schematic drawing on the wall!

Thanks for that link - the recording quality is so much better!

Here is a link to him playing the 4th Ballade. Of course, there is even more bass in the Chopin.

Thanks LilyLady for the new links, the quality is so much better as whippen boy pointed out.

Whippen boy -

Thanks for the link. Actually it was the 2nd Ballade (not the 4th). The piano was great !! Unfortunately Mr. Tirrell was not at the top of his game. Lots of wrong notes. This just confirms how challenging it is to play this piece accurately. I'm really pleased to see a Mason in this recital hall, however.

But...Just think of all the notes he got right!

carey, I think it is a little rude to point out a pianist's mistakes when he himself did not post the url, and when it was posted it was to show the sound of the piano.

Geeze.

(sorry for the hijack Gary)

I would never buy a piano sight unseen. I have played a CC4 and some CC2 s and a few other M&H's. I think M&H's are terrific pianos but they do vary so thats why I think you need to go play it. If its in new condition it sounds like a great deal.

Thank you lilylady for the great Shaun Tirrell links and thanks to all of you who have taken the time to provide your input on the various facets. I enjoyed the sound of the piano but agree with various others that I would need to "visit" the piano personally to accurately assess it's own particular merits.

I have found out some addtional information about the piano/dealer. The piano owner/dealer is indeed a Mason & Hamlin rep and the piano was delivered to his store in November of 2006. It has not left the store and he indicated only a select few have been allowed to play it.

For those who may not know, I am the party that had my concert grand "crashed" by movers (two weeks ago to the day!) Everything I have been able to find out about the Mason Hamlin CC94 seems quite positive so far but I am unable to pursue any other piano until I know the status of mine. Unfortunately, after two full weeks I know nothing more than I did two weeks ago...the insurance company has indicated they are in the process of obtaining estimates.

If my piano ends up being repaired I cannot pursue the Mason & Hamlin (or any other piano). If my piano is "scrapped" then I will have to wait and see what settlement I receive on my piano. If the M&H is possible I will travel to Calgary to see/play the piano.

In the meantime, I don't know if the store owner will be able to keep the piano much longer as his floorplan company is "hovering". I don't know that my personal piano situation will have a resolve soon enough for me to pursue this M&H.

The owner has removed the piano from pianomart.com apparently because his agreement with M&H does not allow him to advertise price. If someone else wants to pursue the piano at this moment I will not be offended and will be happy to provide contact information if you will send me a personal post. As much as I would like to have this piano (if mine does not end up repaired) I would prefer to see the dealer sell it to someone else then have a floorplan company take it back and stick the owner with a short-sale bill. As many of you know there are a lot of dealers that have "succumbed" of late and probably many more that are currently "touch-and-go."

Thanks again for all your thoughts and posts and if you have any others please keep them coming. Best, Gary

Per Lilylady - "Carey, I think it is a little rude to point out a pianist's mistakes when he himself did not post the url, and when it was posted it was to show the sound of the piano. Geeze."

Sorry if I offended you. I normally try to find the good in every performance - and keep my mouth shut about the shortcomings.

We all have good days and bad days. The pianist was clearly not having a good day at that moment in time - and listening to the performance simply reinforced in my mind how challenging this particular piece can be. It is true that the pianist did not post the url - however, he did allow his performance to be put on the Internet in the first place. He played the piece better than I would have under similar circumstances. And yes - the piano sounded great !!

Cheers.

I realize that how a piano sounds is a matter of taste. Everyone seems to think that the piano sounds wonderful. To my ear, I find that the upper register sounds almost bordering on mute in comparison with the lower octaves. This makes "voicing" much more difficult for the pianist. It sounds like this instrument would be good for chamber music voiced as it is. I like the upper register to "glisten" and to my ear it lacks the brightness that I would want for solo work. My CC2 has required quite a lot of filing and juicing of the hammers to bring out some usable top end, even though it is only in my living room. Pianos that don't project in the upper register are an endless frustration to me. I prefer that the piano make my job easier. Shaun appears to be working hard to effect any semblance of balance. There again, the audio engineer, mike placement etc. all affect how he and his instrument will sound. Like many youtube postings there are more questions than answers.

John, I noticed the same thing. It could be the recording, though, as you rightfully point out. And it could be that that piano needs attention from a tech who knows voicing.