American Made Pianos

An Outstanding Manufacturing Tradition

Service Icon

Mason & Hamlin Piano Company

Factory Location: New York, New York
Serial Number Dates: 1883 - present

History:

Mason & Hamlin is one of those fine American companies that became a household name. The company was founded in 1865 as an organ manufacturer, then began producing pianos in 1882. For a time, the company was controlled by the Aeolian company, but eventually regained its autonomy. The company has also been associated with other names, such as Sohmer and Falcone.

 

Information source: Pierce Piano Atlas

The Resonance of a Continent: The American Piano Tradition

The American piano manufacturing tradition is a story of unparalleled craftsmanship meeting the boundless natural resources of a new world. At its heart lies the selection of materials—most notably the vast, old-growth spruce forests of the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast. These superior stands of Sitka and Adirondack spruce provided the tight-grained, resonant timber essential for crafting the world’s finest soundboards, offering a tonal depth and "singing" quality that European makers envied. Combined with a relentless spirit of industrial innovation, American makers refined the overstrung scale and the heavy cast-iron plate, creating instruments of such structural integrity and powerful projection that they redefined the modern piano.