Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum In Praise of the Mason & Hamlin BB

I would join the lovefest except that what I bought was a vintage CC2! I was really looking for a piano in the 7 foot range, including BB's, but this bigger piano presented itself, and it just fit into the space and my budget.

I do love the BB as well. I didn't know Masons until I started piano hunting about 20 years ago. I've had this piano 10 years and it now needs some work, but it constantly makes me happy.

Hi Joe, Long time…remember that BB that Rich had?

Hi, LJC. I remember a CC94, I think. That was a few years ago. I liked it a lot. Or maybe it was a BB and my memory has faded.

yeah we checked out the concert grand too but there was a BB there that I thought was a cut above.

Hi, everyone. I can only see 1 picture and no sound recording here. Am I missing any other post on this?

Hey Brazil--Click the link in the original post to hear the audio recording.

Great pianos. I bought a 2008 model in the fall of 2011 during the recession. The piano is still getting better and the sustain is ridiculous. Have had a couple of tweaks but otherwise it is a fantastic instrument. Fit and finish is years ahead of S&S B. THe piano uses Renner Blues which tend to get a little bright but with careful voicing and steaming the hammers they sound very beautiful and the voicing lasts a long time.

More recordings?? You got it. Just posted these under Member Recordings - all made on my 2003 BB, which I purchased "new" in 2006. Very powerful instrument. Perhaps a bit too powerful for my living room !!

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2232239/2013_CD_Compilation.html#Post2232239

And here's a story: My 2003 BB started it's life with a Pyramid Mahogany finish - but was "dropped" on the loading dock when delivered to a dealer in Oregon, which then necessitated that it be sent back to the M&H factory in MA to be refinished. Upon refinishing the piano in Satin Ebony, M&H shipped it to AZ in early 2005 where it sat in a dealer's showroom for a bit. Soon after it was sold, however, the new lacquer finish on the piano developed a couple of hairline "cracks" (due, we believe, to having been shipped to AZ from MA in extremely cold weather). There was an unsuccessful attempt to repair the finish, and the initial buyer demanded a new replacement BB - which M&H graciously provided a few months later. When the replacement instrument was delivered, I was able to purchase the original BB for a song from the local dealer. With further touch-up on the finish - and a complete regulation - my BB was good to go - and I became the first owner of record with the full new piano warranty. I consider myself to be extremely fortunate.

Hmmmm, Piano World just lost my post I made in response to your post, carey. In a nutshell, I've only listened to a few of your recordings so far. I will certainly take the time to listen to all of them. You playing is just beautiful! And I love the sound of your Mason & Hamlin! The tone has such depth. Yet, it is wonderfully clean and clear. I think you probably used really good sound equipment to get these recordings. My Zoom H2n is not able to get this quality of recording. Lucky you to have found this great deal on a gem of a piano!!!!!

Dynamobt - Loved your recording of the Grieg Canon. Beautifully played. Your vintage BB sounds (and looks) wonderful !!! The recording quality on the Zoom H2n is actually quite good. I use a Tascam DR-100 digital recorder (which was given to me as a retirement gift by my former colleagues) along with two AKG Perception 220 mics. The mic placement is critical. Still experimenting !!

The bass on that piano is really good.

For stereo mic placement I like inside the piano, right over the middle of the sound board, about ~30 centimeters up. It might be good to separate the mics about 10 centimeters or something.

My beast is an M&H A which I've had since fall 2013. M&H wasn't really on my list because I'd assumed it would be out of reach and inappropriate anyway, because I'm not moneyed, or a pro, or even particularly good. But I had been playing a BB an hour a week for about 2 years. My teacher has one.

When I met my first M&H, partially rebuilt, at a dealer, I felt like I'd come home -- but for a number of reasons that particular one was not destined to become mine. I found my A not long after, and have never looked back. My action feels a bit different than my teacher's (my instrument is *a lot* older), but there's enough of a family resemblance between the two, that transitioning back and forth is so easy.

Also, my experience of M&H ownership is similar to yours, dynamobt, in that I practice *a lot* more now that I have this fine old thing. In a post a few months back I referred to it as a 'practice magnet'. The honeymoon is not over. Yayy M&H BB, for guiding me to my A!

Definitely a characteristic of the M&H BB.

Hello all! Well - I just bought a new BB in late December. The initial technician's appointment is next week, and I am quite excited about hearing an in-tune piano then. The rich tone and the action of the new BB stood out among the pianos I played. After sitting at many dozens of pianos over two months in the Houston area, I had narrowed my selection to a 1929 BB, a 1906 AA, an early 20th S&S M, and the new BB. Of other high-end pianos, I certainly enjoyed the Bosies, but I preferred the richer, more complex sound of the Masons. Many Steinways played with mixed results, and two C Bechstein machines neither of which I cared for although I know that there are some great ones. There was also a great Baldwin, but too large for my space. For what it's worth, the most surprising instrument was a large sized Brodmann - not sure what series. It was a beautifully sounding, powerful instrument. Not quite in the same league as my narrowed selections, but a joy to play. I did play a few Shigeru Kawai instruments that I enjoyed. On the new BB I eventually purchased I remember the very first notes I played on the piano. It was an open voicing of D major spanning the bass to tenor range. It was a "wow" moment; such a rich tone came out. I love that range of the instrument, and the first piece I played at home was Chopin's Op. 9 no 1. Especially in the B section's left hand of that Nocturne was I reminded of that first interaction with the piano. Of course, there was more to consider in purchasing than a single sustained sounding, but it really turned my head to that instrument. The 1929 was also a great instrument, but I preferred the action of the new model. And is it not a fun time when your piano truck arrives at your home with such a great instrument! Unfortunately the movers were a guy short with a weighty machine. "Mason and Heavy" is their term!

Beautiful playing Carey! And the piano sounds great!

I have chosen a Mason & Hamlin BB for my newly built home! I am looking forward to having a piano to enjoy at home again.

The style I chose is the new Cambridge 2-tone Ebony with Macassar trim.

I will update with photos later, but it will take about 3 months to get.

Thanks,

Nick

I just noticed this timely topic and thought I would add my story, which is still evolving.......

I'm a professional pianist..spent about 30 years in Toronto, Canada playing and composing. I moved back to my home town in NW Ontario about 5 years ago.

I had a Steinway O (c. 1919) since 1987, and always fought with it...definitely not an instrument that I was drawn to. I finally decided to go looking about two years ago while on a week-long gig in Toronto. Went to many stores and played a BB for the first time. I absolutely loved it. This was a new instrument, and was out of my reach financially, but the bug was planted.

It took about a year to sell my O, and then I started looking for a used BB.

One finally showed up at Michael Lipnicki's new store in Calgary last April, The piano was about the fifth last piano made at the Aeolian factory in 1981, so I was somewhat hesitant. I had an independent tech check it out, and he was quite impressed with the instrument. I flew out to spend a weekend with Michael and the piano, and we juiced up the soft hammers (they had been replaced along the way ), and I knew that there was a lot of potential.

Once I got it home I replaced the hammers with a set of Ari Isaac hammers. This made a tremendous difference! In the last month I've installed a set of WNG composite repetitions. I had to fool with the geometry of the stack to make them work, but it was well worth the fuss. The instrument feels and sounds much like the new one that I played in Toronto.

I'm still fussing with the voicing, but it's quite close.

Here's a small snippet of an improv.......

https://soundcloud.com/wayne-kelso/m-h-bb

and here's a pic....



Thanks for reading....I look forward to hearing more BB stories!!

Cheers
Wayne

Lovely sound Wayne. Thank you.

Great. Nice music and playing. Wonderful tone on the BB.

Rich

I suspect your BB was made when Peter Perez was running Mason&Hamlin. The pianos made under his short watch were to a much higher standard of workmanship than the typical Aeolian Rochester work. I always appreciated Peter Perez's efforts.

I enjoyed the sound of your piano.

Good luck!