Craftsmanship

The craftsmanship that makes the Knabe the World's Best Piano is not the acquisition of one generation, but a pedigree of skills that have run through more than 300 years. Not merely by the masters of this great industry, but in the families of employees where sons have succeeded fathers at the head of some particular branch of the art, and whom in great part have suggested improvements where possible.

Making a great grand piano starts with the unwillingness to compromise on any aspect of the design, materials and craftsmanship. Through the years since its inception, the piano has been technically refined to the point of near perfection. There are time honored design features and specific materials that are known to produce the finest musical results.

Some components are ideally made of spruce while others require maple or hornbeam. Crafting a fine piano like the Knabe must be done by the hands of a skilled and experienced craftsman.

Performance

From the very beginning, William Knabe committed himself and his company to the building of fine, high performance instruments. Soon the great pianists of the world began to recognize this Baltimore piano maker's designs and craftsmanship. Concert halls all across America and Europe began featuring Wm. Knabe pianos. The Knabe has also been the chosen instrument of important conservatories of music, public schools and music departments of colleges and other institutions where musical instruction has a prominent place in the curriculum.

The rich and wondrous tonal quality of the Knabe has often been described as the nearest approach to the human singing voice. Its reputation for matchless tone and flawless beauty of encasement is the result of undeviating adherence to the conviction that in piano making there is no detail that does not deserve the closest attention and care. This policy is accepted as a trust by craftsmen who consider it a privilege to add their skill to the creation of pianos worthy of the Knabe prestige.

Superiority You Can Actually See And Touch

Run your hand around the rim of today's Knabe grand. Then try the same on other grands. The sweep of your hand tells you that the Knabe is much larger in proportion to its length. This greater area of sound amplification is equalized on either side of the treble bridge. Coupled with the soundboard taper and the Low Tension Scale the result is a fuller, richer, balanced tone with more dynamic range. Or ask to look inside a Knabe console. Every surface is completely finished.

Philosophy and Values

Wm. Knabe pianos are handmade, limited production pianos created in the finest tradition of the 300 years of piano crafting. Production pianos have their place in the world of music. They are tonally consistent and durable, but they lack the "soul" of a handcrafted instrument. Each handmade Knabe has its own personality. When you play a Knabe, you will sense the difference.

From the carefully hand-laid, tapered solid Canadian spruce soundboard, to the carefully selected oak and maple that is hand bent into the finest and strongest rim in the piano industry, to the final touches of the master technicians that regulate the premium German action and hammers, every step in the creation of this marvelous instrument is the work of master craftsmen.

Each Knabe rim, once bent, is braced with laminated spruce bottom beams and secured with hardwood dowels. The beams terminate at the "belly rail" into a cast tone collector. This structure is designed to hold every part of your Knabe grand piano in place for over a century of use and 40 tons of pressure exerted by the strings.

Warm As The Human Voice

Listen to the tone of today's Knabe. No piano in the world has a voice quite like it. So distinctively mellow, so warmly melodic, it is often compared to the lyric richness of a glorious human voice. Knabe tone is no accident. It is the result of superior low-tension scale design created to the uncompromising standard of leading artists.

The Right Materials Are The Ones We Use... Regardless Of Cost

Only woods, metals, glues or natural fabrics best for each particular purpose are ever permitted in the Knabe. For example, the only wood used for Knabe pin planks is winter-cut, quarter-sawn, northern hard rock maple for added strength and holding power. For other woods, we search the globe...17 areas in all... for the rarest varieties to provide the specific grain and texture required for each application.