You can find the soundboard at the centre of any Steinway piano, whether grand or upright, concert or baby, and it is instrumental in providing any piano with its unique sound quality. Incredible care must be taken to ensure that every instrument meets the rigorous quality requirements adhered to at Steinway & Sons.

This rigour includes the selection of the wood and the adherence to the design of the Steinway soundboard. Sitka spruce is the most resonant wood available; the Sitka used in the manufacture of Steinway instruments is sourced from one island in Alaska with a unique micro-climate. This ensures the wood has superior grain density, direction and colour. The wood selected for use in the creation of Steinway pianos must meet a minimum number of annual growth rings.

Steinway’s 1936 patented Diaphragmatic Soundboard features a unique design that allows a piano to vibrate more freely, creating a warmer, richer and more resonant sound for a longer period of time. The soundboard tapers gradually outwards from the centre, allowing for greater flexibility of movement.

The Steinway Model B’s soundboard is 9 mm thick at the centre, tapering to 6 mm at the rim and outer case, where it is double crowned.

Steinway instruments maintain their excellence because our craftspeople never compromise on quality. This includes the selection of materials used to craft these magnificent instruments. High-quality materials are instrumental in creating beautiful sound, and the soundboard bridges used in Steinway pianos are formed exclusively from vertically laminated hardwood with a horizontal grain and are capped with solid maple. Steinway craftspeople painstakingly notch each bridge manually to ensure optimal tone.

The 1963 patented Hexagrip Pinblock, developed by Steinway & Sons, guarantees the flawless conveyance of sound from the strings to the soundboard, permitting pianos to keep their precise tuning for longer. This creates the unmistakable Steinway sound, marked by its uninterrupted, resonant tone. The Hexagrip design includes seven laminations of quartered hard rock maple stock. The consistent grain orientation around the circumference of the tuning pin is essential to provide impeccable pin gripping; this is achieved by arranging the grain symmetrically at angles of 45º and 90º, sequentially. This patented pinblock establishes an effortless dynamism under torque and a more continuous retaining action, ultimately resulting in a piano that remains in tune for longer.

Steinway treble bridges are crafted from hard rock maple in vertical laminations. These are capped with solid hard rock maple and levelled, coated with graphite, and finally diligently hand-notched and drilled. This provides exact string bearing and exponentially reduces the risks of splitting.

Each time a piano is played, its strings undergo a significant amount of tension. Up to 20 tons, precisely. The cast iron plate is an integral part of a piano’s construction, counteracting this exceptional weight and providing a Steinway with the durability and support it requires throughout its life. At Steinway & Son, we only use bell-quality iron to produce our cast iron plates, which are created in our own foundry with castings made specifically for Steinway. These measures guarantee optimal reinforcing for string tension, decreased vibration and enriched sound quality. A Steinway’s plate is robust grey iron, filled CNC-milled and sealed, bronzed and lacquered.