Introducing the new Performance Edition II by Boston, featuring a Pomelle Sapele veneer on the inside rim (ebony pianos only), rose-gold plate color, black felts, and a rescaled bass and treble strings.
The Boston PE II builds on the best-in-class features that Boston is known for, including a Hard Rock Maple inner rim and Octagrip™ pinblock. The GP-215 Performance Edition is 7' ½" (215 cm) in length, and the grand of choice for many institutions and festivals that boast mid-sized performance venues.
Responsiveness. Precision. Intuitive grace. A superior musical instrument can be recognized by the degree to which it allows the player to express vision without interference — with nothing coming between the fingers on the keyboard and the music in the air.
Such is the experience of playing a Boston. Designed by Steinway & Sons, employing the unique patents and expertise that have made the name Steinway synonymous with excellence, the Boston line of grand and upright pianos represents a singular achievement in instrument building: a superior playing experience at a price level never before thought possible.
The Boston grand piano offers a larger soundboard in comparison to other pianos of the same length, due to its innovative “wide tail” design. This wider construction of the case means that a 5' 10" Boston grand has the same soundboard area as a typical 6' 2" grand piano, creating the power, richness, and feel of playing a much larger piano.
Each Boston piano soundboard is crafted of Sitka spruce, long proven to be the most resonant material available. Boston soundboards are solid (not laminated) and precisely tapered, which allows them to vibrate more freely. In conjunction with a number of special technologies — unique patents of Steinway & Sons — the result is a powerful, sustained tone.
A low tension string scale design gives a fuller, richer, warmer tone by allowing more of the lower partials to sing. It also has more sustain, is more powerful, has more dynamic range, and provides warmer and more mellow tones.
A Boston Performance Edition exclusive, eleven layers of hard-rock maple (used for its superior hardness, grain and stability properties) are glued in different grain angles of 60 degrees, keeping the tuning pins tight but allowing for fluid motion and enabling better quality and longer lasting tunings.
All-wood action parts, solid spruce keys, synthetic ivories and ebonies, and excellent action geometry work seamlessly together to move the hammers to the strings and create an excellent action-touch. The beautiful tone produced by the steinway–designed Boston hammers enhances the action touch by rewarding the player with a beautiful tone.
Length: 215 cm (7' 1")
Width: 155 cm (61")
Height: 102 cm (40")
Net Weight: 404 kg (889 lb)
Cabinet Style
Classic
Finish
High Polish: Ebony
Satin: Ebony
Inside Rim
Pomelle Sapele Veneer
Hardware
Solid brass — polished and lacquered.
Rim
Hard Rock Maple inner rim -- this is the foundation of the Boston’s tone. Besides providing superior structural integrity to the piano, it enhances tone by being a rock hard foundation for the soundboard. A Maple rim is found only in the finest pianos. Continuous bent rim. 15 outer rim laminations, 17 inner rim laminations. 29 mm (1⅛") outer rim width, 38mm (1½") inner rim width.
Braces
Radiating braces solidify the piano’s structure. Their triangular layout provides more support than parallel designs. This rigid system improves tuning stability and soundboard crown retention, and lengthens piano life. 4 radial braces + 3 horizontal braces.
Pinblock
Octagrip™ pinblock made of 11 layers of Hard Rock Maple — glued in different grain angles of 60 degrees — affording the tuning pins greater stability under tension and enabling the piano to stay in tune longer.
Soundboard
Close and straight-grain solid (not laminated) Sitka spruce. Minimum 3 annual growth rings per cm (minimum 8 per inch). Tapered from treble to bass, allowing a greater freedom of movement in the bass, and stiffness in the treble, thereby creating a richer and more lasting tonal response. Tapered from 9 mm to 7 mm. Vibrating area: 1.70 m2 (2,625 in2)
Ribs
Made from durable spruce to assure strong and constant support of the strings bearing down on the soundboard. Ribs are fully let-in to the inner rim to support the important soundboard crown and prevent the piano from losing its tone. Number of ribs: 13
Bridge
One continuous bass and treble bridge, vertically laminated (alternating maple and mahogany) with a solid maple cap, curved to fit the crown of the soundboard.
Scale
Overstrung; combination of agraffe, with front and rear duplex. Rescaled bass and treble wire for lower tension scale for increased sustain, better tone clarity, and deeper, clearer bass. 18,017 kg (39,720 lb) tension.
Plate
Cast from grey iron, rose-gold painted and lacquered. Vacuum cast.
Strings
Treble: Highest grade steel (in half size increments). Number of sizes: 16. Lowest tenor note: 21. Mapes Bass Strings: Steel core wire wound with solid copper. Made by Mapes in Tennessee, U.S.A. Note 1 speaking length: 163.6 cm (64.4").
Hammers
Premium wool topfelt over premium wool underfelt. Weight of topfelt: 9.8 kg (21.6 lb). Compression-wired to retain permanent shape. Mahogany moldings. Tapered hornbeam hammershanks. Computer-designed pear-shaped hammers result in superior tone, increased durability and greater voicing ability.
Action
Solid maple and hornbeam (all wood, no plastic) for all moving parts. Steinway profile-shaped flanges, extruded aluminum action rails for increased stability and less frequent regulation. Steinway action geometry provides superior touch.
Keys
Genuine spruce, individually balanced and weighted. Synthetic ivory and ebony key covers. Synthetic ebony has ebony-like surface texture and appearance that absorbs perspiration from the fingers. The fine synthetic ivory of the white keys has the same properties of friction, porosity, conductivity, and appearance as ivory.
Pedals
Heavy solid brass castings. Una corda (soft), full sostenuto, and sustain (damper) pedals.
Architecture
Classic case design. Coved toplid and keyslip, square arm shape with matching square fallboard shape, and wall cornice detail are all classic and beautiful. Violin-shaped topstick.
Other
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