What distinguishes J. Strauss & Son pianos, more
than all else, is summed in our dedication to a
single belief::
"Make the finest pianos available with the
finest materials available at an
affordable price in order to provide the best
value in a piano today."
Soundboard
Narrow, evenly spaced growth rings are an
essential requirement for the best sound
transmission. Only wood of the finest quality is
good enough to make a J. Strauss & Son piano.
For the soundboard and ribs, we use spruce from
northern Canada and Alaska. In this region, the
trees grow slowly at altitudes of over 1,000m,
where air humidity is relatively low. These
excellent climatic conditions are the foundation
of high-quality wood for the production of
musical instruments. After the wood has been
expertly harvested, it is carefully seasoned
under climate-controlled conditions in the
drying room. This process ensures an optimal
degree of moisture in the wood to ensure the
highest quality in the subsequent manufacturing
process. The soundboards are then completely
manufactured in Washington State.
The highly elegant soundboard stands out
among all the aesthetically pleasing components
of J. Strauss & Son instruments. The ribs of the
soundboard are of varying length, thickness and
width, and the soundboard is shaped with exactly
the right degree of curvature to bear the
pressure of the strings. After the ribs and
bridges have been attached, the soundboard is
stored again in the drying room to let the
residual moisture escape. Only after this final
drying stage is the precious soundboard finally
installed.
Iron
Frame
The iron frames for J. Strauss & Son pianos are
produced by sand casting. Sand casting provides
a very dense plate, which will provide no
interference or overtones in the desired sound.
This process contrasts the quicker vacuum
process that creates a frame or plate with added
rigidity that will interfere with the pure tone
of a well-constructed instrument.
Rim
The rims on all J. Strauss & Son pianos are made
of alternating Hard Rock Maple and Birch. These
are hardwoods that will aid in the full hearty
tone of the piano. Hardwoods allow for a higher
crown soundboard and less tension on the stings
for a fuller more robust tone.
Pinblock
The wrest-plank, or pinblock, holds the wrest
pins (tuning pins). Its underside fits the
contours of the frame exactly, and the wrest
pins are driven into the upper portion. This
method of construction allows the optimum fit of
the wrestpins, ensuring excellent tunability and
tuning stability. The wrest-plank is made of the
finest North American hard rock maple and is
manufactured in Wisconsin.
Strings
The strings used on all J. Strauss & Son pianos
are Roslau strings. Made in Germany, these
strings have been reputed to be one of the best
strings in the world.
Action and Keyboard
The action and hammerheads are made to our own,
strict specifications. Every set of hammerheads,
made by Medecau, is tested for its quality and
acoustic properties and matched to a specific
piano model size. The strike-points of the
hammers are set individually for each instrument
before the hammers are glued and filed. Every
hammer is T clamped to keep the shape of the
hammer longer. The keyboards are also produced
exactly to our specifications. The keys are made
of specially selected spruce and are
individually balanced and lead weighted. The
action is assembled onto the key-frame with the
necessary individual adjustments being made for
each grand piano. The key-frame must fit
precisely to the key-bed so as to reduce the
noise from the keyboard to a minimum when
playing the piano.
Dampers
Each damper rail is individually divided in
sections that correspond to the position of the
string sections in each piano. The damper rail
is bored and bushed with felt, and the
damper-felts are glued to the damper heads. They
use grooved-shaped felts for single,
wedge-shaped for bi-chords and split-wedge or
flat-shaped dampers for tri-chords. The damper
heads are mounted individually - an extremely
delicate task that requires years of experience.
Finally, the damper mechanism, pedals and action
are precisely adjusted and regulated for smooth
coordinated function.
Regulation
To ensure perfect and uniform touch, the piano
action must be precisely regulated. Each hammer,
each key and each lever is positioned and
regulated according to the position of the
strings. The basic elements of a well-balanced
action regulation are: the set-off of the
hammer, the key dip, the checking of the hammer,
the lifting of the damper when the hammer has
traveled half its blow distance, and the
strength of the repetition springs. The correct
touch-weight of the action is attained by
adjusting the weight of each key individually.
Voicing
After precise regulation of the action and
perfect tuning of strings and unisons, the
instrument can be solidly voiced. Voicing is the
fine regulation of the piano's sound through
manipulation of the felt on the hammerheads.
Since all three strings of a unison have to be
hit simultaneously, the hammers are first
aligned to the strings by careful shaping of the
hammer felt with a hammerhead file. Needling the
felt with a toning hammer at carefully selected
locations on the hammerhead affects the sound
and the dynamic development of the fundamental
and partial tones of each individual note. The
hardness and elasticity of the felt in different
parts of the hammerhead has to be influenced by
the needling and filing procedure in a way that
will produce the desired tone characteristics.
The use of a hammer iron or other steaming
device may also be employed to attain the
desired sound.
Finishing
All J. Strauss & Son pianos are offered with
either a black high-gloss finish or a choice of
one of many exquisite real wood veneers. The
veneer sheets are always carefully matched and
joined, and any additional surface treatment,
from sanding to staining, is carried out with
equally meticulous care. All finishing is
performed on fine Italian finishing machines for
the best end result possible.
Warranty
All J. Strauss & Son pianos come with a limited
lifetime warranty on the pin block and harp; 12
years on parts; and 10 years on labor; a
testament to the quality and durability of these
fine instruments.
Iron
Frame
Dampers