Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Can we talk about Steingraeber for a moment?

Steingraeber is a brand that has just recently hit my radar. Extremely low production volumes, hand-made in Germany for over a hundred years, gotta be totally steeped in tradition, no?

But man, they embrace some "weird" stuff. Magnetic actions, Sordino pedal, Mozart rail, knee lever, transducer soundboard system, aluminum lids, carbon fiber soundboards, welcome support for "New Music," including endorsement of arguably anti-snobby techniques, like "no front cross struts for New Music and Contemporary techniques" of...what, reaching into the top and plucking strings pizzicato fashion? And black/white colored dampers so you can tell which string corresponds to which key? There's even...a restaurant in the factory, or something?

I dunno. I guess I was expecting something a bit more...old school? Stodgy? I don't know what half of the stuff they're doing is, but I kind of love it, especially the fact that it's coming out of a family-owned, boutique maker. I gotta find a dealer nearby and try one of these gems.

Interesting. Any links?

Yeah, they've got some weird stuff here! https://www.steingraeber.de/en/innovationen/


Sordino - felt between the hammers: steingraeber.de/en/innovationen/sordino/


Mozart Rail (drops the key dip): https://www.steingraeber.de/en/innovationen/mozart-rail/


Carbon fiber soundboard: https://www.steingraeber.de/en/innovationen/carbon-fibre-soundboard/


Aluminum core lid: https://www.steingraeber.de/en/innovationen/sound-projecting-lid/


Magnetic upright action: https://www.steingraeber.de/en/innovationen/sfm-upright-piano-action/


Key-colored dampers:


Just kinda wild and "embracing the new" in a refreshing way...

I like the features except for the hollow lid. I'm not sure you could do this anymore:

I recommend also playing the Steingraeber. They definitely also just have a nice sound, are wonderfully built. It is easy to get distracted by innovations, but after all it is sound that matters ;-)

Yes, they are beautiful instruments to play. I believe that a lot of the things you mentioned (with the exception, perhaps, of the magnetic components on the uprights) are ‘custom’ options. I believe there was a sordino pedal on the concert grand that I saw, but the other Steingraeber grand pianos were ‘just’ absolutely stunning, beautiful-to-play pianos without any novel features.

I'm slightly biased, but they are exquisite pianos in my opinion, with or without innovative options.

Worth remembering that all the things we love about pianos were once innovations.

I like this aluminum lid idea! It surely must be lighter than MDF.

I think it's a novel solution to the problem of increased lid weight in modern pianos.

I have to say, I thought the lid on my E272 was lighter than expected, yet it pre-dates the aluminium design. I wonder whether it was an acoustic innovation first and foremost with the weight saving a side effect.

Yes!

Two thoughts on this:

One, I forgot to mention that I was curious about the acoustic factor, whether the aluminum lid is more reflective as claimed, and/or if it matters (perhaps when the lid is raised and "aimed" at an audience. ??).

Two, I don't think perceived weight increase would be linear with the length of your piano, since the longer part tapers towards the hinge, and the width at the point where you lift would essentially help lever it up (i.e. most of the weight is in the forward part with the fly lid compounding the total, if that makes sense).


Oh, and a third thing: Welcome to PianoWorld, Neil_UK!

I've played on some pianos with extremely light lids, including some odd art-case designs where the lid and the left rim are a single piece. I've never really known how much of a difference it makes, sitting at the bench....

And yes, regardless of innovations, I'd really like to experience a "plain vanilla" Steingraeber. It just struck me as a maker that is more than a notch or two lower on the pretentious scale, where every decision has to be backed by 200 years of established European guild tradition!

Vanilla can be absolutely heavenly!

Thanks

Lighter lids on large European and Asian grands would be a very welcome change. It's getting a bit out of control...the one on my Schimmel K230 is a bear to raise, and recovering from a relatively recent shoulder injury, the one on the Fazioli 308 I'm getting ready to play in a concert, tomorrow night, was no picnic, either! I really enjoyed having the Magic Lid installed on my Shigeru SK6 that I used to own, and do miss what it did.

Yes, it's fun to see what sorts of innovations they are trying at Steingraeber, and at the NAMM show they seemingly always brought a prototype of something new they're trying. But as for the "plain vanilla" piano underneath, I have to say in the 7 foot size class I love almost every model 212 I come across. For that matter, I almost bought a used 205 (the model which preceded the 212), some years back. One of my very favorite pianos at that specific size range. Pricey, though.

There’s an interesting model of a Steingraeber grand in Pianoteq.

A friend of mine has a Steingraeber. I played it. It has a very sweet sound.

John

I think Steingraber's factory AdSilent implementation is a modeled Pianoteq sound, perhaps the same one?

Good point indeed.