Petrof

Web site: http://www.petrof.cz/ and http://www.geneva-intl.com

Manufactured In: Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

Petrof has been Pickle Piano Company's best seller for over 10 years. Its exceptionally high quality makes it a very appealing piano for the price. It features design elements and building materials typically found on pianos priced two to three times higher. Petrof grands generally fit budgets between $25,000 and $60,000; while verticals generally fit budgets of $8,000 to $20,000.

Petrof pianos are hand built by the Petrof family in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, and distributed in the United States locally by Geneva International Corp. of Wheeling, IL. Petrof was established in 1864 by Antonin Petrof, a master piano builder, and is still a family-owned company to this day, now in its fifth generation. To date, Petrof has built over one million pianos, making it one of the largest piano manufacturers in the world, and the largest in Europe.

The quality of the materials and the skill of the Petrof craftsmen remains at the highest level and is never compromised. The Petrof Piano Company houses an elaborate Research and Development department which provides extensive data analysis of sound and tone elements from the Petrof pianos and their individual components, thus combining European tradition with the latest technological advancements to provide you with the best value for your investment.

A look at some of the qualities that make Petrof one of the finest pianos in the world:

Case Parts

Beech is the only hardwood used in the construction of cases for Petrof grand pianos. Why beech? The purpose of a case's hardwood rim is to reduce the loss of the energy that strings supply to the soundboard. Other woods, being softer than beech, will absorb more of this energy, diminishing tonal quality and sustain. Beech also increases a piano's tuning stability and longevity.

Horn beam wood is used exclusively in the construction of the piano's damper guide rail. All woods in a Petrof piano are dried to the international standard of six percent.

The pinplank is made of multi-layered cross grained positioned beech wood. This ensures pinplank stability by compensating for wood's natural tendency to change shape and position with climatic fluctuations. The cross grained design also assures a firm 360° grip on the tuning pins for smoother controlled tuning throughout the long life of a Petrof piano.

Soundboard

Petrof soundboards are carefully fitted to each individual piano, and are made of the world's finest quarter sawn spruce. Of all woods, only spruce amplifies every tone frequency evenly. Each soundboard's ribs are perfectly contoured to its parabolic shape by a special process. This unique method allows a Petrof soundboard to retain its crown throughout the piano's life. Petrof tolerates no laminated soundboards.

Bridges

The bridge of a piano transmits energy from the strings to the soundboard. Beech wood is unmatched in its ability to do this with minimal distortion or energy loss, which is why it is used to make all Petrof bridges.

Petrof bridges are cut, notched, and pinned by hand for critical string alignment and bearing to produce a tone with rich harmonics, long sustain and a wide dynamic spectrum. Only the finest hand built instruments are made in this way.

Strings

Skilled craftsmen do all stringing of Petrof pianos by hand. Agraffes are used for each unison in Petrof uprights. Few other piano makers use this method because of the costs involved, but it is recognized as the best way to obtain proper string alignment and termination.

Plate

Petrof plates are hand cast to achieve low harmonic distortion and perfect acoustic balance. The wet casting procedure used by Petrof is noted for its superior results and is the only method used in prestige European pianos. Other methods compromise harmonics and create unwanted sympathetic resonance.

Petrof cures plates for over one year to stabilize iron molecules. After curing, master craftsmen grind, shape, level, polish and finish each plate to fit an individual piano.

Action

The finest cured hardwoods such as maple, beech and horn beam are incorporated into Petrof actions. Kashmir felts are used in the action center bearings. Petrof's grand actions follow the Erard-Hertz principle and have no plastic parts. Action components are hand-fitted and aligned to close tolerances. The damper mechanism has a double action flange to accommodate parallel and perpendicular string movement, a design used only in the finest pianos.

Hammers

Petrof hammers are made of the best virgin wool, and are specially reinforced to ensure precise timing in string contact. This allows the harmonics and dynamic spectrum of each string to be brought out to the fullest and richest sound. Petrof hammers range from eighteen to twenty-two pounds in grands, and eighteen pounds in uprights.

Finishes

Petrof imports exotic veneers to create finishes that are uniquely splendid. A special gluing process creates finishes with a deep, warm glow. Synthetic glues, which penetrate the wood surface and cause permanent discoloration, are never applied to our pianos. Petrof's organic glue is removed after curing by a patented process, leaving only the natural beauty of wood to be enjoyed.