Konzertflügel Werkstatt Hamburg
Welcome to the workshop of Klangmanufaktur! We kindly invite you to visit us in Hamburg to play our instruments. A short registration in advance is sufficient.
Klangmanufaktur thrives on the exchange between pianists, piano technicians, sound engineers, researchers and other interested parties from different disciplines. This special network constantly generates new ideas, carries the quality of our work out and helps us improving every day through feedback. We welcome you to be a part of it.
In addition to the sale of instruments, we also carry out refittings and repairs on behalf of the customer. We are specialists in turning rundown Steinway grand pianos into mint condition, high quality concert instruments. Our customers include music academies, concert halls, radio stations and foundations. You can find an overview of our references here.
As with the instrument sales, you have the opportunity to follow the development of your instrument through regular visits to our workshop. Please contact us for further information on our services, or to discuss an offer.
On the following pages you will find brief explanations of the workshop services that include a general overhaul at Klangmanufaktur.
Above all stands our holistic sound philosophy to optimize the energy transfer within the instrument. This enables a quick response and an open, clear sound with a wide dynamic range.
If you would like to have more specific information or get a better understanding of how we work, always feel free to be in touch.
We renew the v-rib of old piano plates in order to achieve a good tunability and a clear sound with good sustain in the melody register. For this purpose, we machine a groove along the tip of the v-rib and insert a specifically hardened silver steel.
With our custom-built tuning pin drill centre we achieve an ideal torque and seat of the tuning pin, resulting in excellent tunability. For replacement of wrestplanks we use Bolduc pinblocks made of north-american rock maple.
In order to optimize the vibrating properties of the soundboard, we remove the old varnish, specifically calibrate and taper the panel, shim cracks and eventually seal the soundboard with an extremely thin but durable wax.
In our workshop we restore the entire bridge caps. If we detect defects in the original caps, we replace them, align the height to achieve ideal string pressure and notch the bridge anew.
In order to achieve tonal balance across all registers we install new strings with optimized workload by using hybrid steels (Paulello strings) and recalculated bass strings.
We offer a high quality new finish for the plate, which does not stain over time as current bronze coating does, because it is sealed with a satin clear finish.
Depending on overall state of wear and age we either restore the action or install an entirely new action, including hammers and dampers. We are using original Steinway action parts only.
If necessary, we renew bushing, cushions and keytops. Our approach to weigh off of keys is dynamic. This increases responsiveness and evenness of the keyboard.
Voicing is where all threads of the restoration finally unite. By means of voicing the tension of the hammerfelt, we define the dynamic range and by shaping the geometry of the hammers we arrange the spectrum of partials.
As an alternative to current mainstream polyester coating, we offer coatings on a natural basis, such as wax and oil, putting emphasis on the structure of the wood, as well as French polish.
