About Phoenix
Phoenix Pianos grew from Hurstwood Farm Piano Studios, based in beautiful rural Kent, UK.
Our original development of the Phoenix bridge agraffe system arose from an opportunity to rebuild a Bösendorfer Imperial which had been dropped by transporters. The resulting instrument’s “rise from the ashes” – reminiscent of that of the mythical Phoenix – inspired our company name.
When Udo Schmidt-Steingraeber, director of Steingraeber & Söhne, was shown this prototype piano, so impressed was he with the new technology that a partnership to incorporate the system into Steingraeber pianos was formed. Pianos bearing the name Steingraeber-Phoenix were produced, and are still manufactured today.
From there, we went on to develop our patented carbon fibre soundboards, with Steingraeber building the acoustic case and frame for our own Phoenix brand.
Along with our core partnership with Steingraeber, our use of bespoke stainless steel strings, carbon fibre bridge caps and 3-D printed “D3D” actions make Phoenix a piano like no other.
Our aim at Phoenix is to use state-of-the-art acoustic and computer science to improve the power and sustain of the notes and enhance the artist/instrument interface of modern pianos, whilst producing an instrument of longer quality life and one that is significantly more resistant to adverse climate conditions.
In 2019, we developed our first climate-resistant Kevlar soundboard. Installed into a 130 upright, the sound is rich, warm, and blossoming.
We believe our pianos offer some of the most significant advances in piano design for over a century.
Key Features
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An acoustic body (case, frame and fitting of the soundboard) supplied by Steingraeber of Bayreuth using only the finest materials and old-fashioned hand craftsmanship
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A new form of bridge technology that transmits vibration energy from the strings to the sound board up to twice as efficiently as a traditional piano bridge
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A five layer carbon fibre sound board derived from exhaustive research and computer analysis
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D3D bushless, climate-resistant action made of various bespoke materials, including hammer shanks of durable and uniform carbon fibre
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Special premium felt hammers by Abel identified by black core felt, which have been developed to exploit the potential of carbon fibre sound boards
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Cold nickel plated bass strings by Heller of Germany. Traditional copper wound bass strings are optionally available
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Options for carbon fibre, Kevlar and thin wooden soundboards for all models
Below is a series of interviews with Phoenix founder, Richard Dain. In this fascinating series, Mr Dain explains how Phoenix came to be manufacturer of the world’s most technologically advanced pianos.
