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“Situated in (the city of) Guangzhou in a massive 2.8 million-square-foot factory that qualifies as the world's largest, Pearl River is beginning to take on the Japanese and Korean manufacturers in the competitive European and U.S. markets..”

Music Trends Magazine

February 2001

The Origins of the Guangzhou Pearl River Piano Group Ltd. The Pearl River Company Today The Making of a Pearl River Piano

Early Pearl River Factory

Pearl River Piano Group Origins With six piano shops and 100 employees in 1956, the Guangzhou Piano Factory repaired and rebuilt pianos for a very small market. After many attempts, Guangzhou technicians were finally satisfied with the tone color and quality of its first manufactured piano, and in a short time it was sold in Hong Kong. It would be twenty years before the factory was able to prove its potential, the cultural and economic revolution having opened domestic and foreign markets to Pearl River Pianos.

Early on, instrument design, quality, and competitiveness were brought to world-class standards as the company began working with piano experts from around the world to incorporate proven design and manufacturing techniques. By 1987, the company established itself as a national leader, gaining import and export rights, reaching 10,000 unit annual production, and securing an industry leadership role that the company still holds today.

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The City of Guangzhou, China, the Home of the Pearl River Piano Group

Pearl River Piano Group Today The Pearl River Piano Group is well positioned to take on the leading Japanese and Korean manufacturers in the competitive European and U.S. markets. By the end of 2000, the Pearl River factory built over 72,000 pianos, securing the company 60% share of the Chinese market and 50% share of the total export market. The recent multi-million dollar factory expansion and modernization allows an ideal balance of old-world hand craftsmanship and advanced computerized automation.

Pearl River is More than Pianos: A network of Pearl River factories feed the market with quality band instruments, stringed and percussion instruments and guitars. For example:

The Pearl River Guitar Factory and its 600 workers build 60,000 acoustic guitars and several thousand electric guitars per month
The 265 employees at the Pearl River Violin Factory produce 6,000 violins per month
Our Orchestral Instruments Factory with its 100 workers produce a full line of fine brass orchestral instruments
A wide assortment of ethnic Chinese percussion instruments and drum sets are produced at the company's percussion factory by its skilled workforce of 150

The Pearl River Piano Group factories are committed to meeting its high demands, and quality will never be compromised. In 1998, PRPG earned the International Standards Association ISO 9001 Certification for its entire line of grand and vertical pianos, including all parts and components. Pearl River is proud to be the first piano company in China to receive this prestigious independent certification of quality.
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The Ideal Balance of Old and New World Craftsmanship



Quality Management System Certificate & Det Norske Veritas Management System Certificate

The Modern PRPG Woodworking Facility Raw Lumber Staged for Manufacturing

The PRPG Factory Located on China's Beautiful Pearl River PRPG Has Earned the ISO 9001:2000 Management System Certificate Back to Top

Entrance of the PRPG Manufacturing Facility

“By striving to compete with other manufacturers that have a much longer history of building pianos, Pearl River has put its employees and management on notice that we will accept nothing short of perfection.”

Zhi Cheng Tong, President

Pearl River Piano Group

The Making of a Pearl River Piano
Music, the world's universal language, is abundantly enhanced by the rich and brilliant tone of the piano. Only the piano encompasses the entire range of the orchestra and is able to flawlessly respond. Sensitive touch, expressive pedals and beautiful tone are the results of Pearl River's ongoing efforts to discover and to create the finest methods of piano building and production

Our piano cabinets are among the finest. Because of vast native forests, Pearl River is able to select its own raw materials from start to finish. Spruce, pine, maple and Chinese walnut are carefully processed in our own lumber yards and dried in our state-of-the-art, computer controlled kilns. Pearl River's climate controlled factories assure uniform conditions throughout the building process.

The iron frame or "plate" is cast from the highest quality pig iron to assure a lifetime of support to the instrument. Engineers have painstakingly analyzed this critical element of our pianos to ensure its stability. The golden lacquer finish is the finest in the industry. Tuning pin holes are precisely drilled by digital boring machines to guarantee the utmost accuracy.
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The soundboard of the Pearl River piano is of extraordinary design. Made from the finest straight-grain spruce, our soundboards, the soul of the piano, produce a tone of exceptional quality. The solid clear grain ribs extend to the outer rim to add strength and to withstand the stress created by the tension of the strings.

Our bridges of laminated maple are precisely located to assure the longest possible string "speaking length" and to help produce a superior tone.

Specially designed fixtures at manufacturing dictate the perfect sweet spot for the uniform and repeatable tone of every Pearl River piano.

Tuning stability is a direct result of the pin block. Fine blue steel, chromium plated, thread cut tuning pins are held in place by our 17-ply (upright) or 21-ply (grand) pin blocks. Our pin blocks are made of the finest hand-selected hard maple.

Pearl River pianos are available in cabinet designs that meet every taste. Whether classical, modern, European or traditional in style, there is a Pearl River designed to your liking. Special care is given to selecting only the very finest veneer in clear, interesting patterns. We produce finishes from the natural charm of satin to the flawless high gloss polyester of the modern day.
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The Pearl River-designed and produced piano actions are among the world's finest piano components. The action of today's pianos must have the ability to interpret the slightest movement of the performer. Pearl River's sophisticated actions are weighted and balanced to ensure the highest sensitivity, touch and playability.

Hammer production is a most critical area of piano building. To assure uniform production quality, Pearl River controls every aspect of hammer manufacturing. We purchase the very best quality felt from both Japan and Germany. Selected weights for uprights and grands are used to enhance tone. We press, shape and sand our hammers to guarantee the correct rigidity.

Piano regulation is performed under strict control by Pearl River's most competent professional technicians. This assures that your piano arrives in performance condition. Each instrument is subjected to a keyboard velocity testing machine for 15 minutes as a 'break in", again so that your piano is ready to play at delivery.

Pearl River pianos are tuned a minimum of 7 times during production. This ensures that tuning stability is at its highest with your first experience at your new Pearl River Piano. The last tuning is performed just before boxing by our most experienced tuner/technicians.

Pearl River uses a German voicing technique on all pianos before your instrument is shipped. This process allows us to deliver a piano of unequaled balance and tone.
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Every Pearl River piano is examined by a quality control expert prior to shipment. The piano is signed by that controller to assure its compliance with every factory standard.

Not only is the Pearl River Piano a delight to your eyes but it is a triumph of tone and expression. Your piano brings together an artistry and a technical sophistication unsurpassed in the industry. We are confident that your Pearl River piano will be a delight for generations to come.

This is our commitment to you!

Zhi Cheng Tong

Pearl River President

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