Keyboard Yamaha produces all keyboards in-house. The keys on Yamaha b-series pianos are made from Sitka spruce. The wood is dried naturally for six to 24 months and then further seasoned in Yamaha’s computer-controlled kilns. Since most of the wood in a piano key is left unpainted, Yamaha keys benefit from the stringent drying and seasoning procedures. It’s thanks to these exacting practices that the keys are unaffected by changes in temperature and humidity. Action A piano action must be resistant to continuous impact as well as changes in temperature and humidity. Yamaha takes advantage of its proprietary technology for drying and gluing maple - the principal material used - to ensure a very precise and long-lasting action. Every single one the 5.500 action components is produced in-house! Machinery developed by Yamaha enables us to achieve incredible accuracy. Holes for flanges, for example, are drilled to within 0.05 of a millimeter. Yamaha was the first manufacturer in the world to develop a centre rail made from aluminum. Because aluminum rails are resistant to deformation and not influenced by temperature changes, strike-point deviation can be kept to a minimum. Soundboard The b3 models feature a solid spruce soundboard. The soundboard material is sourced in North America, where the seasonal temperatures and altitude are ideally suited to growing high quality spruce. b2 and b3 soundboards are produced in the Yamaha-owned Kitami facility which specialises in all woodworking processes - from selection of the wood by our own “woodscouts”, though the seasoning process and right up to the production of the piano components - only for Yamaha. Frame Yamaha is one of very few piano makers to produce its own frames. Our foundry is in Iwata. All b-series frames benefit from our unique, advanced V-Pro method. The V-Pro casting technique creates a mold from dry sand held in place by a plastic film and a vacuum. Compared to conventional methods, V-Pro frames offer a high-precision finish and more consistent quality. Yamaha developed this process for piano production. Pin Block