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Progress on our carbon fibre grand piano - the Phoenix CF
Article published on 03 April, 2014

Progress on our Carbon Fibre grand piano

Our first prototype piano was completed at the end of August 2013.  Hearing it speak for the first time was memorable.  The big unknown question, whether it would sound like a traditional piano was answered... it did... but with longer sustain and exceptional and superior  power particularly in the upper two octaves.

A few weeks later we took the piano together with one of our Phoenix pianos incorporating carbon fibre sound board to the Music Festival at Cremona for public exhibition in the same part of Italy that spawned Christofore’s first piano in the eighteenth century.

Since then the prototype piano has been exhibited in Paris and at the Birmingham Exhibition Centre in the UK.  It has been awarded several major prizes for innovation.   Phoenix pianos which incorporate much of our new technology but look conventional, have also been exhibited at Trade shows in Shanghai, Munich ,Frankfurt, and at the NAMM show.  Phoenix pianos with carbon fibre soundboards were also shown at PTG events in Grand Rapids, Chicago, Las Vegas and others. In all these venues our pianos have attracted huge interest. In Munich we won the coveted first prize for Innovation in the Arts which is a contest for all arts including painting, architecture, musical instruments, furniture, fabrics and many other branches of art.  The  Phoenix Piano later shown in Shanghai was loaned to the Queen for the event when she entertained Foreign Royalty and Heads of State attending the marriage of the Duke  and Duchess of Cambridge .

The purpose of a prototype is to learn.  We have spent an intense 6 months studying the vibration and acoustics of carbon fibre soundboards /bridges/case/strings  and rib configuration using an extended form of existing computer  modal analysis which has enabled accurate assessment and optimisation of many features both individually and in combination.  Several thousands of these massive calculations have been undertaken.

We are currently building a second prototype using most of the components of the first as a basis.  We refer to this piano as our preproduction piano.   For any person who is interested in owning one of our preproduction pianos we would be pleased to negotiate a contract to supply.  It is in our opinion a vast step forward in climate resistant and durable piano design which we have taken with every possible reference to the demands of achieving a design costing no more and hopefully rather less than current pianos of similar size and high end performance. 

R Dain April 2014

Progress on our carbon fibre grand piano - the Phoenix CF The Phoenix 212 with carbon fibre soundboard and Phoenix bridge aggraffes, and the Phoenix CF all carbon fibre piano at the Cremona Fiera Pianoforte, Italy (2013)
Progress on our carbon fibre grand piano - the Phoenix CF The prototype Phoenix CF all carbon fibre piano at Cremona Fiera Pianoforte, Italy (2013)
Progress on our carbon fibre grand piano - the Phoenix CF The Phoenix CF in construction.
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The Hurst Crouch, Borough Green, Seven Oaks, Kent TN15 8TA, United Kingdom     T: 01732 885050    F: 01732 883030     E: info@hurstwoodfarmpianos.com

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