Well, Mason & Hamlin has done it again.

We had a great day!
It was a real pleasure to see some familiar faces from our membership, and to meet new members and their friends/spouses.

The chicken dinner that we shared for lunch was wonderful.

Bruce Clark, our tour leader, did his usual superb job. This was my third or fourth tour and I learn something new every time.

Mason & Hamlin just continues to improve on what is already a great piano. I will write more later (and add more pictures). It's been a long day (just got home) but I wanted to share some pictures with you right now.

Members came from as far away as Michigan and Oregon. Our members are really into pianos :-)


No, these aren't some sort of mechanical insects on their backs. These are rim presses. We got to watch the entire process as they pressed both an inner and outer rim.


The big grey box we are filing past on the left is a 36" wide belt sander (try finding one of these at your local Sears).


Class is in session...


Watching a master craftsman hand-notching a bridge. He sharpens his own tools, and they are seriously sharp!


These young ladies are lovingly known as "Trouble" and "Double Trouble" (better known as Sun and Wendy I believe).


Continues Below...

Continued as promised (more to come, later)...


John Citron's friend (and piano teacher with serious credentials) telling Cecil, "yes, you have to practice your scales".


Our own John Citron entertaining us


Nothing like dueling pianos to get things jumping!


We had a great turnout. Members, guests, and some of our friends from Mason & Hamlin


If anyone has any other pictures, please feel free to post them here.

More Later...

Thank you Frank and thank you Mason and Hamlin for an absolutely great day. This tour was everything a piano lover could ask for. The administrative staff and craftsmen and cratswomen at M+H opened their workplace to us and gave us a day I will long remember. Bruce Clark, our tour leader, took us through all the steps that go into building a world class piano. We started with the bending of a rim in the basement and ended with the final inspection of a finished piano on the sixth floor. This tour was as good as it gets.

I fell in love with a new AA in a gorgeous Bubinga case. Maybe someday..........

Folks got to play a number of beautiful models they had on display and the highlight was Frank demonstrating that you are never to old to rock n' roll. Yeah Frank!

If any of you have a chance to take this tour in the future, do not hesitate.

Thanks again to the folks at Mason and Hamlin for rolling out the red carpet for us. They are the best.

Gary Lambert

Frank,
Thanks for the great pics!!

Out of curiosity, what are the cost(s) of some of those pianos (to the consumer)?

And, if my schedule matches, count me in for next year (if you do another trip).

Been waiting to see those pics! Loved the tour last year. A highlight in my piano adventures.

We hope that others post pics and tell us little tidbits that you learned.

As well, some people ID'ing. ;-) Who played what? and What pianos were there to test.

I see Cecil playing! (hi!)

Roberta

I too would like to extend my thanks to all involved in arranging the M&H tour. In short ... It was WELL WORTH THE TRIP. Thank You very much.

To the Burgett's, Administrative Staff , Craftsperson’s' and a special thanks to Bruce Clark ...many thanks for catering to us and allowing us to disrupt your factory ... what a treat, to think you even arranged the assembly of components around our[/b] schedule ...

I will try to post pics ASAP but I found out last night my neighbors Mom passed and the funeral is tonight ...and then there's golf on Thursday ... sorry.


btw, I did get out of Manchester on time, with 15 mins to spare ... whew. Did stop to confirm directions though. Even told my wife that I did -that's a first for me - lol.

ps. Cecil, if you can't find room for that piano, I know Keyboard Carriages does deliver in MI Canton to be exact lol

Maybe next tour, my wife can attend. By then I should have more than ONE song committed to memory ..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!! and congrats again on 60 yrs of Marriage[/b]

I would like to thank Frank and everyone at Mason and Hamlin! Special thanks to Bruce Clark who took us through the stages of piano building.

P.S. How does one upload photos?

Frank,
Would you please id the people on the group photo? Its nice to see photo's of who's who.

Thank you,
Nelson

Fantastic time! Many, many thanks to EVERYONE who had a hand in arranging and executing this! We thoroughly enjoyed the tour, the lunch and everything else! Learned a lot, too!

Some pictures:

M&H Tour Pics

Wow! What an education and what a great, great experience.
It was wonderful to see the pride that the M&H people take in their instruments and to see that we're dealing with a real family operation where everyone cares.

Now...if I could just find a way to trade up to a BB!

Thanks to Mason and Hamlin and to Frank for this terrific event.

Roy

WOW!!!!!!!
As I've said before...."It just gets better and better"!!
Thanks to all the wonderful folks at M&H. Thank you Frank for arranging the tour and your great playing. Always fun!
Cecil....It's a joyous happening when you perform. Many thanks.
Super "lunch"(a dinner)!
Sorry that we (the Cape Cod crew) were late. I was co-pilot and a poor map reader. No excuse as it was my fourth tour of M&H.
John Citron.....beautiful playing and warm wishes!
IrishMak.....GREAT pics and website. Thanks so much!
Wonderful to see and visit with Paul Mannachino again (M&H Historian and former staff member for many years).
Jeremy Gloo (A441)

Great seeing all of you at the tour, and special thanks to Bruce who put up with all my questions, and to the folks who asked--no I was not an industry spy I was however a rebuilder getting a chance to see how and why things are done in a factory setting, and having an absolutely fabulous time doing it.

This trip really is a must for anyone interested seeing how good pianos are made, if only to get an appreciation for all that goes into it. The access given to all facets of piano making, and Bruces willingness and ability to give direct concise answers to any questions, was greatly appreciated.

Now I have a handful of pics myself, but as computer stupid as I am I can't say I know how

Ah well --best to all nice meeting so many of you, I'll have to do this again someday

This was my second time going on the tour. This time my wife and my two older children joined me. We all had a wonderful day and it was a great field trip for my children. Thank you to Mason and Hamlin for the privileage of touring your manufacturing facility and to Frank Baxter for setting it up.

After thought...we all should have stood up and anounced who we are and our PW names.

I'll start the process
front row, PW (Frank), Monster M&H (Les), Paul Monachino (from Mason & Hamlin),

...to the next person

Next to Paul Monachino is me, Brian!

2nd row, standing (basically in the middle- between the heads of Brian and the next person) is me- IrishMak (Mary Alice) and over my shoulder (the bald guy) is my husband, Mike.

The next three are myself Jeff, my daughter Christie, and my wife Debbie. My son Andrew is in the very back row behind me right infront of the tree in the backgound picture

IrishMak

Some great pics you took. I don't remember seeing the piano pounder last year.

Do you remember the 'black keys' that were brown and black? Do you remember the woods that they used?

Roberta

Thank you! I can't take credit for them, tho. My husband took the pics and did the clean-up. I just do the "grunt" work of getting them on the site! lol

I did see the black and brown keys on a couple pianos, but I don't recall the wood... Very nice touch on the veneered pianos, tho.

I'm trying to master a complete ID of those present for the tour.

I have no idea of who the folks are that are circled in blue!!

If anyone wants to respond, I'll repost the picture with ID's!!

I'm in the back row in the white shirt with blue stripe behind Paul M. I believe Roy (rtaorm) is directly in front of me.

Rich

Yep, that's me in front of Rich

Roy

SOME PHOTOS I TOOK (in no particular order):

http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/tensionresonator.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/tensionresonator2.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/stringing.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/soundboardmachine.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/rimpress.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/pressedrims.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/platepainting.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/plateandstrings.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/plate.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/noisemaker.JPG
http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/boardandbridge.JPG

Some really nice pictures - M&H tour and the people. Mary, nice posting of more pics - and to see your avatar up close. You DO look like you know what you're doing (giggle) - with that hair - whoa! Beautiful. Very nice, everyone! Piano lovers paradise.

I finally found a way to upload the photos I took at the M&H tour. (see links above)

This tour seems to be going on for years now...