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Craftsmanship - the building
of a great piano:
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Design: The philosophy of the maker
must only focus on
performance without any
concern for costs. With this
commitment in place the
maker must strive to achieve
perfection in design, using
all of the technology
developed over the last 300
years of piano making. When
Joseph Pramberger began this
engineering process his
family’s accumulated
knowledge and his experience
at one of the world’s
premium piano makers was the
foundation of the design
concept. Joseph believed
that building a fine piano
was a process of design
evolution. A piano design
would never be finished. He
believed you must be patient
and persevere in refining
the piano’s performance.
Joseph’s work and design
philosophy is being carried
on by a small group of
excellent piano engineers
who were part of the
Pramberger design team from
the very beginning of the
process.
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Materials: After the design is
completed the materials must
be selected. It has been
known for at least the last
200 years that hardwoods are
best for the grand piano’s
rim. Maple, oak and beech
are selected by the makers
who will not compromise to
save cost. The JP Pramberger
uses an all maple rim for
strength, durability and
tonal excellence. The bottom
beams on grand pianos and
the back post on verticals
are made of the tone wood,
spruce. The iron plate is
made from a centuries-old
process of sand casting.
Sand casting is tonally
superior to the
mass-produced vacuum casting
or V-pro process. The tuning
pins are made from an
extremely strong steel
alloy. German rod steel
versus Asian coiled steel
make the tuning pins easier
to set and significantly
more stable. The hammers are
the most important aspect of
a piano’s tonal system.
Members of the JP Pramberger
design team have worked with
the L. Renner Co. in Germany
to develop the Renner Blue
Label AAA hammers specified
in the JP Pramberger piano.
They have also worked with
Renner to produce the
Pramberger/Renner Premium
Performance action. German
Roslau strings and the
original asymmetrical
Canadian White Spruce
soundboard complete the
major commitment to finest
materials.
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Craftsmanship:
The men and women who build
this fine piano learned
their craft from excellent
piano makers from the United
States and Europe. The maker
of JP Pramberger and J.
Pramberger pianos has
produced millions of fine
pianos over the last fifty
years. All of the JP
Prambergers are completed in
the United States where
experts in tonality and
action regulation spend many
hours making sure the JP
Pramberger piano is ready
for the most demanding of
artist and venue.
Diamond Brand Tuning Pins
and Roslau Music Wire
German made Diamond Brand
tuning pins and Roslau music
wire are both recognized
worldwide as the finest
available. Straight rod
steel drawn through
meticulous processes provide
renowned tuning stability
and pure tonal quality.
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Premium Blue
Hammer:
Prior to the 1940s, fine
piano hammers had many
qualities that have been
difficult for modern hammer
makers to duplicate. Timbre,
power and sustain were
unique to instruments of the
era. The Renner “Premium
Blue” is a recreation of
those hammers. They have
been specifically designed
to perform with a
classically beautiful voice
throughout years of playing.
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Renner-Pramberger
Action:
The Renner-Pramberger Action
was designed to give a
lifetime of reliable
performance. Its premium
balanced touch is able to
express every nuance of an
artist's touch. Louis Renner
was founded in Stuttgart,
Germany in 1882. They
specialize in supplying
piano action components to
leading piano makers and
piano technicians in over 80
countries.
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Bolduc
Soundboards:
André Bolduc soundboards are
known throughout the world
for their reliability, and
unsurpassed quality. Each
winter-cut, North American
white spruce log is
meticulously examined by the Bolducs at their home in
Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce,
Québec. White spruce has
long been a favorite
soundboard wood due to its
ability to generate powerful
tone throughout a wide
dynamic range.
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History and Timeline:
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Joseph Pramberger’s
father, Anton, began
his apprenticeship
at an early age
handcrafting fine
works of art,
becoming a Master
Artisan in the
tradition of Old
World European
craftsmen. Anton
recalls his
grandfather handing
down the family
secrets of fine
woodworking and
instructing young
Anton to
“meticulously
observe only the
best work of others,
and absorb every
possible detail and
nuance of their
craft.”
The Pramberger family
decided to leave war-torn
Europe for the United States
at the urging of Anton’s
uncles and cousins, who had
been working at Steinway &
Sons® since 1913. Anton had
been promised work at the
Steinway piano factory in
Astoria, New York. There, he
put his formidable skills to
work, dedicating 25 years as
a pattern maker, designing
and creating the complex
equipment required to build
fine pianos.
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When Anton came to
America in 1950, he
brought his son,
Joseph Pramberger,
who would become the
modern-day link in
the Pramberger
lineage of piano
makers. Beginning in
1958, Joseph honed
his craft in the
halls of Steinway &
Sons®, where he
ultimately spent 29
years perfecting his
skills, first as a
Design and Project
Engineer, then as
Vice President of
Manufacturing and
Chairman of the
International
Technical Exchange
Group. Through his
hands-on involvement
in every aspect of
piano making, he was
able to gain
detailed knowledge in
all phases of fine
piano construction
and manufacturing.
Joseph further
expanded his skills
as a mechanical
engineer (New York
University B.E.M.E.
1966), by studying,
refining and
documenting
established piano
making operations.
He traveled the
world visiting and
consulting key
suppliers and major
piano manufacturers
in Europe, Japan and
Korea.
In 1987, after 29 years at
Steinway, Joseph, in the
tradion of the Prambergers
before him, formed his own
company, Pramberger Piano
Ltd., where he and father
Anton worked together
specializing in the
restoration and rebuilding
of world class pianos. |
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Timeline:
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The Pramberger
family’s history of piano craftsmanship dates back to the
late 1700s in the Black Forest of Germany. Johann Joseph
Pramberger, born in 1779, began making pianos in Vienna,
Austria, the Music Center of the World. It was an era in
history where every aspect of creating a piano was an art of
learned skill and personal craftsmanship. In today’s modern
instruments, the same core values still hold true; though
the design and manufacturing technology have evolved, the
inherited knowledge, experience and skilled touch of a
Master Craftsman’s hands are still paramount in the creation
of a fine musical instrument.
1700s
• c1700 Bartomeo Cristofori develops the first piano
• 1723 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) becomes choirmaster
of Saint Thomas’s church, Leipzig, Germany
• c1750 Pramberger family immigrates to Vienna, Austria from
the Black Forest region of Germany
• 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) is born in
Salzburg, Austria
• 1779 Joseph Johann Pramberger (1779–1834) is born in
Tyrol, Austria
• 1780 Nanette Stein-Streicher develops the improved Vienna
action for the piano-forte
• 1792 Schweighofer & Sohne piano makers established in
Vienna. By 1900s was Vienna’s oldest firm
• 1792 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) moves to Vienna to
study under Joseph Haydn
1800s
• c1800 Joseph Johann Pramberger, after apprenticeship under
Mathias Muller, partners with Michael Schweighofer
• 1810 Joseph Johann Pramberger acquires full ownership of
Schweighofer & Pramberger piano shop in Vienna
• 1810 Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) is born
• 1811 Johann Pramberger, Jr. is born in Vienna, studies
under his father, and eventually leads the family business
• 1814 Beethoven’s last public appearance
• 1814 Joseph Pramberger is born, studies with father and
brother and becomes an independent piano builder
• 1821 Sebastian Erard patents double escapement piano-forte
action
• 1821 Johann Pramberger Jr. invents a new piano stop called
the Violoncellton
• 1824 Johann Pramberger Sr. patents new type of piano
called a Sirenion
• 1824 Pramberger receives patents for design work on piano
strings and metal soundboard
• 1827 John Broadwood patents iron hitchpin piano frame with
cross bars
• 1839 Pramberger piano receives honorable mention at Vienna
exhibition
• 1851 Franz Liszt, (1811–1886), composes “Transcendental
Etudes”
• 1853 Steinway & Sons® piano makers established in Astoria,
New York
• 1859 “Modern” overstrung scale with full iron frame
patented
• 1867 Pramberger piano receives Bronze Medal at Paris
exposition
• 1873 Pramberger piano receives Medal for Technical
Excellence in Vienna
• 1892 Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) composes “Prelude in
C-sharp Minor”
• 1899 Scott Joplin (1868–1917) composes “Maple Leaf Rag”
1900s
• c1900 Pneumatic player pianos developed
• 1904 Vladimir Horowitz (1904–1989) is born
• 1909 Anton Pramberger is born
• 1913 Pramberger family members begin working at Steinway &
Sons®, NY
• 1924 George Gershwin (1898–1937) composes “Rhapsody in
Blue”
• c1930 Duke Ellington (1899–1974) broadcasts jazz from the
Cotton Club, Harlem, NY
• 1950 Anton Pramberger family immigrates to New York City.
Anton begins work at Steinway & Sons®
• 1958 Joseph J. Pramberger begins work at Steinway & Sons®,
NY
• 1975 Joseph J. Pramberger invents patented bushing for
piano actions
• 1987 Joseph J. Pramberger leaves Steinway & Sons® and
creates Pramberger Pianos Ltd., NY
2000s
• 2000 Pramberger Platinum Edition world-class grand piano
models JP-185 and JP-208 Debut
• 2004 Pramberger joins the SMC family
• 2005 New generation of Joseph Pramberger inspired JP
Prambergers introduced to the world of premium pianos
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