This material has been at the core of the Baldwin sound for generations. The alloys used in the V-Pro process can make the plate both absorb some sound energy and also cause unpleasant and unnatural harmonics.Īll Baldwin uprights use Alaskan Sitka Spruce soundboards. V-pro plates are made in a matter of minutes in a vacuum mold using a mix of alloys to make the cast iron harden quickly.

Wet send cast plates are poured from cast iron like church bells and cured in the elements for months. Luan wood being less dense absorbs sound energy rather than reflect it back on to the soundboard like harder woods such as maple do.Īmerican piano designs use wet sand cast plates while Japanese makers use something called a V-Pro plate. Many pianos use lower density woods in the frame such as luan. All American pianos like Baldwin, Steinway and Mason & Hamlin are made from dense hard wood maple frames. The same can still be said for the other two legendary American piano brands Mason & Hamlin and Steinway.

Unlike the automated production line pianos perfected by the Japanese companies Yamaha and Kawai, all Baldwin pianos are built the slow way allowing for more fine adjustment along the manufacturing process. The process of making them by hand one by one is how Baldwin has always been made and how they are still made today. What makes an American piano brand sound American? It’s about the process, wood, hammers and strings.

Weber upright piano weight