Performance Edition
The Boston 118E Performance Edition combines the best in beauty and performance in an affordable piano. At a height of 46½" (118 cm) and a depth of 23½" (60 cm), the small profile allows you to fit this piano into almost any room.
Boston uprights offer the same standards of excellence which characterize all instruments designed by Steinway & Sons. A Boston upright will give you the same opportunities to express your musical skill as a grand.
In comparison to other pianos, the Boston has less string tension. This reduced string tension allows for a larger, tapered soundboard, creating longer sustain, and more singing quality in the tone (as well as longer piano life). A wealth of other engineering enhancements, including optimal placement of ribs, braces, and bridges, also contribute to the Boston’s superior tone and greater stability.
Each Boston piano soundboard is crafted of Sitka spruce, long proven to be the most resonant material available. Boston soundboards are also precisely tapered, which allows them to vibrate more freely. In conjunction with a number of special technologies — unique patents of Steinway & Sons — the result is a powerful, sustained tone.
Fine veneers underlie the elegance of the Boston pianos — available in walnut and mahogany satin or polished finishes, as an alternative to the classic ebonized — all designed to delight the eye and enhance the player’s experience.
Height: 118 cm (46½")
Width: 151 cm (59¼")
Depth: 60 cm (23½")
Net Weight: 255 kg (561 lb)
Cabinet Style
European
Finish
High Polish: Ebony, Mahogany, Walnut
Satin: Ebony, Walnut
Hardware
Solid brass — polished and lacquered.
Rim/Backframe
Mahogany foot-piece soundboard lining and backboard. Specially-designed grand-type mahogany closing rim; unequaled vertical strength and stability and improved acoustics. Backposts have staggered spacing to enhance tone and provide support where needed.
Braces/Posts
Full-length laminated mahogany posts assure that the backframe will remain straight and consistent and tuning will remain stable. Mahogany fill-blocks between posts at the top and bottom of the backframe, capped with a mahogany backboard for positive vertical alignment. Solid filler blocks (no hollow spots). 5 posts. Total cross sectional area: 400 cm2 (62 in2). Thickness of post: 8 cm (3⅛"). Width of post: 10 cm (4").
Pinblock
Octagrip™ pinblock made of 11 layers of hard rock maple – glued in different grain angles of 60 degrees – affording the tuning pins greater stability under tension and enabling the piano to stay in tune longer.
Soundboard
Close and straight-grain solid (not laminated) Sitka spruce. Minimum 3 annual growth rings per cm (minimum 8 per inch). Tapered from treble to bass, to provide a rich tone in the bass, and a brilliant and crisp tone in the treble, creating a well-balanced and lasting tonal response. Tapered from 9 mm to 8 mm. Vibrating area: 1.11 m2 (1,721 in2). Closing rim evens out the soundboard’s response to all frequencies, eliminating “hot” spots. Emulates shape of grand soundboard.
Ribs
Made from durable spruce to assure strong and constant support of the strings bearing down on the soundboard. Ribs are fully let-in to the liner to support the important soundboard crown and prevent the piano from losing its tone. Number of ribs: 10
Bridges
Treble: Solid maple, curved to fit the crown of the soundboard. Bass: Solid maple mounted to cantilevered base. Doweled, glued, and screwed to soundboard. One continuous base and treble bridge.
Scale
Overstrung: Lower tension scale for longer sustaining tone and longer life of the whole piano. 17,425 kg (38,415 lb) tension.
Plate
Cast from grey iron, bronze-painted and lacquered. Vacuum cast.
Tuning Pins Nickel-plated steel, cut threaded.
Strings
Treble: Highest grade steel (in half size increments). Number of sizes: 14. Lowest tenor note: 28. Bass: Steel core wire wound with solid copper. Number 1 speaking length: 115.0 cm (45.3")
Hammers
Premium wool topfelt over premium wool underfelt. Weight of topfelt: 9.4 kg (20.8 lb). Compression-wired to retain permanent shape. Mahogany moldings. Hammer-shanks from select resilient maple or horn-beam. Computer-designed pear-shaped hammers with reinforced shoulders result in superior tone, increased durability and greater voicing ability.
Action
Solid maple (all wood, no plastic) for all moving parts. Extruded aluminum action rails for increased stability and less frequent regulation. Dependable direct-blow design.
Keys
Genuine spruce, individually balanced and weighted. Synthetic ivory and ebony key covers. Length of key: 34.8 cm (13.7").
Keybed
Made from laminated hardwood. Strong, rugged construction provides a solid mount for the keyframe and action allowing for precise and prolonged action regulation. Keybed thickness is 42 mm.
Keyframe
Spruce with hardwood inserts in the balance rail and front rail for added stability.
Pedals
Soft (half-blow), muffler, and sustain (damper) pedals.
Other
Music desk: Professional music desk. Two-position upper panel for tone escapement and solid music support. Fallboard: Soft fall fallboard. Casters: Solid brass casters. Prop Sticks: Top prop sticks. Bench: Matching wood-top bench.
Have all your questions answered — by phone or email.