This 1917 Golden Era Steinway M Has Been Completely Rebuilt by Merriam Pianos

Steinway and Sons has been building pianos since 1853. Along with Mason and Hamlin, they are the only piano manufacturer still building pianos in the USA. The name Steinway has always been associated with quality and prestige and through marketing and branding has managed to attract 98% of the world’s concert pianist. Steinway and Sons currently has a factory in New York and a smaller factory in Hamburg, Germany. Both produce great pianos even though the current rating system and piano buyers’ guide rates the Hamburg factory one step higher.

Since the early 1900’s the Steinway Model M grand piano has been the #1 selling grand piano produced by Steinway and Sons. Because the Steinway Model M is 5’7″ in length, it is not too big for most regular sized homes, but also has a good enough bass string length to satisfy most professionals. The Steinway Model M features all of the unique design elements of the larger Steinway models such as the continuously bent hard rock maple frame, accelerated action mechanism, multi-grip pinblock, and a solid Sitka spruce soundboard. The Steinway Model M has a beautiful rich, warm sound and is a real pleasure to play.

The 1960’s and 1970’s saw the Steinway piano company go through some changes. Kawai and Yamaha started importing pianos from Japan that we comparable in quality, but lacked richness of tone. The other American piano companies were struggling on the verge of bankruptcy and the industry in general was going through consolidation. Although some people consider this a tough time for the Steinway piano company, the Steinway Model M was still selling very well and there are some great examples of quality from this era.

Rebuilding high quality pianos has been happening for over 100 years. Models such as the Steinway Model M or B, the Mason & Hamlin model BB, or even some vintage European brands such as C.Bechstein or Grotrian can be perfect candidates for rebuilding. A proper rebuild can bring older instruments back to life and often sell for up to 50% off what a new model would.