THE "GOLDEN AGE" OF PIANOS IN AMERICA

Saturday, December 04, 1999

In this article, I will be confining my remarks strictly to GRAND pianos.

Commenting on the Piano Forum, Cork said,"No instrument is perfect, but though it's only a lowly Petrof, there are times that the music it produces brings tears to my eyes. A sensitive instrument suitable to a variety of styles."

Nope, no instrument is perfect, but Cork's Golden Age list is short, like seeing the tip of the rather large peak that the Golden Age of pianos in America really was. He sees the top of it all right; he mentions them in this order, Knabe, Mason & Hamlin, and Steinway. Interesting. Well, the tension between deciding which of these was tops during the Golden Age period, from say 1885 through about 1929, sort of depended on who you talked to or which you actually preferred yourself.

Steinway was the favorite of concert performers, but Knabe was the official piano of the Metropolitan Opera and well thought of. Steinway feared Knabe at one time. Mason & Hamlin was the real sleeper then and still is today, sort of as the Boston Red Socks is to baseball; they always finish at or near the top, but never go to the World Series. Mason & Hamlin was the piano all the concert artists learned their music on and then went out on stage to play the Steinway. I'm jesting, but that's roughly their status. So that's the top triad. Now what might be the next three great names farther down under these, expanding the peak of the triangle? Here's where the interesting territory really lies, especially for possible piano rebuilding.

Two of the three next names are clearly known and recognized. Rebuilds of these pianos which I have personally experienced rival any experiences with rebuilt or other Steinways in interest. They were wonderful to hear and played better than most new pianos. The names are Chickering and Baldwin.

The Chickerings are better by a hair than the Baldwins, especially the larger and older they are. "Old Chicks" as they call them often have astonishingly dark rich tones. If you come across one of these, make sure the wood and plate are all good. You might consider replacing the action completely, especially if it has metal flanges and other metal action parts. Chickering thought at the time that they were being innovative. You'll replace the hammers too. Use Steinway or better hammers on these. These pianos are really worth restoring and the larger they are the more they're worth.

The Baldwins from the 1920's that have been restored have much more in common with the tone of a Steinway or Mason & Hamlin than they would with contemporary Baldwins which favor a sort of "spun steel" sound; hard, crisp and metalic. The older Baldwins are suave, sweet, capable of greater expression. Use Renner hammers for these. So who gets the number six spot?

Well here's my pick since I'm not quite so sure who gets it. For Cork's interest, A. B. Chase was one of them, by the way. But there are also Ivers & Pond, Sohmer, Krackauer, Decker, Estey, Blasius, Schomacker, Cunningham and Conover. I'm sure I left out one or two more. Each of these had a bit different slant on piano sound. These are fabulous candidates for reubuilds if you stick to big pianos and certain principles including rescaling, the use of the best bass strings and hammers, considerable if not total replacement of the older actions, pinblock replacement of course.

Were these pianos favorably considered in their time? Yes they certainly were. They were often used locally in the finest concerts of the day. In Philadelphia in 1905, the better set would have a Cunningham or Blasius, in Boston a Chickering, Mason & Hamlin or Ivers & Pond. New York was the home then as now of Steinway as well as hundreds of other piano makers which have long since found oblivion. The better of them, Sohmer, Krackauer and Schomacker often had personnel working for them who had worked at Steinway. Do you see the sense in keeping a lookout for one of these, 5' 10" or longer?

As more people become aware of these pianos, their prices when rebuilt to look, sound and play like new, will rise. It makes sense to me, since they will always be cheaper than brand new instruments of comparable quality, to consider these instruments before considering the new instruments at the same price point, all things being equal in terms of relative size. It makes sense for me to consider a rebuilt Steinway A or C from 1925 or so when looking at say a brand new Yamaha C3 or C6.

So how much do these rebuilt pianos really sell for? Well, so far, only the rebuilt Steinways tend to approach anywhere near the new ones in price. Even so they sell the fastest since as I have said elsewhere, just about anyone serious about pianos will grab a Steinway at the lowest price they can get one. Rebuilt Old Chicks slightly outprice Knabes I think simply because there are fewer of them than the Knabes. Rebuilt Mason & Hamlins sell about half the new price, an excellent opportunity when it comes along.

But the others offer interesting features. Some of them are "Art Cases"; pianos in exquisite woods or with extensive carving or both. These have a value attached to them beyond their value as musical instruments. A 6' burled walnut Kranich & Bach, not generally a well respected name, fully rebuilt, including a new keyboard and Renner action might get $20K.

Exploring the Golden Age of pianos in America is probably safer than wine tasting though it might become more expensive. There's something almost akin to real estate about them. The idea of rebuilding an old piano is not a new concept. Piano rebuilding has been going on for a long time, at least since the 1960's when some people really began to sense a sharp downturn in the quality of new American pianos. For a while there were a lot of people getting into it, some with little or no practical experience. The number of piano rebuilders out there seems smaller than it used to be. It's a fairly demanding occupation. And if your work is not at least as good as what's being offered as new, then the rebuilder is in serious trouble as he'd be less likely to sell his work. Most of the work I've seen lately seems better than ever. But I still think people need to be clear about what they mean by rebuilding a piano in terms of what gets done and what gets replaced, especially concerning actions and action parts. I'm certain that standards for rebuilding pianos would help the consumer, the rebuilder and the investor in all these lively transactions.

I'll have plenty more to say about this wonderful subject, later on....