Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Spring 2022 Piano Buyer Now Online

The Spring 2022 issue of Piano Buyer is now online at PianoBuyer.com.

Before telling you about the new issue, I'd like to welcome Hannah Beckett, RPT, to the Piano Buyer staff. Hannah, a Registered Piano Technician in northern Virginia, was formerly a member of the editorial staff of the Piano Technicians Journal, and operates ProPTN, an online educational resource for piano technicians in the field. Hannah will be taking over the day-to-day administration of both the editorial and advertising sides of Piano Buyer. Hannah has always loved helping people find pianos that fit their needs, and working with Piano Buyer expands that role in a significant way. She will be working closely with me and the rest of the Piano Buyer staff in our endeavors to inform and provide clarity to the piano world. She can be reached at hannah@pianobuyer.com.

In the Spring issue, we have three new articles for your reading pleasure. "An Insider's History of Mason & Hamlin," by the company's Senior Design Engineer, Bruce Clark, continues this issue with Part 2, which describes the period from 1932 to 1989, during which the company declined and collapsed under the ownership of Aeolian, and then made a tentative but failed effort to revive itself under Falcone. If you've ever wondered exactly why the Masons under Aeolian were not as well made as those made during the company's Boston heyday, Clark gives the reasons in great technical detail. It's a fascinating story, and an important slice of American history.

In "New York and Hamburg Steinways Harmonize," Piano Buyer's prolific Sally Phillips tells the story of Steinway's project to reduce or eliminate the many long-standing differences between the models, materials, and manufacturing processes the company has used at its factories in New York and Hamburg, Germany, a project that began in 1984 and is finally coming to its conclusion. She also recounts the history of how those differences came to be in the first place. The article also contains an annotated list of YouTube videos that will allow a listener with high-quality speakers or headphones to hear the tonal differences between the two pianos as they evolved.

Pianists with hands of small to average size have long been restricted to playing music that fits their hands, regardless of what repertoire they might actually want to play. This situation has changed. Hailun’s model HU1P upright piano now offers a choice of ergonomic keyboard sizes at affordable prices. Three short reviews of the Hailun Model HU1P Upright with DS6.0 Keyboard tell the story.

The Spring 2022 issue of the Piano Buyer Model & Price Supplement is also online in PDF format, and can be purchased in print format from Amazon.com.

Thank you for your support and readership.

Larry Fine

Thank you Larry!!!!

Also, Welcome to Hannah!

Thank you, Larry. It's so nice to have this as a reference at one's finger tips.

Regards,

Loved the M&H and Steinway pieces.

As a Mason & Hamlin happy owner, many thanks to PianoBuyer and Mr. Clark for the detailed articles on the company history. Warm regards.

Thank you for a such a good reference! about the many aspects of buying a new piano.