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I am trying to compile a complete list of acoustic piano brands currently in production. I'm constantly surprised by how many people think there are only a handful of brands still being made.
I'm primarily interested in actual brands, not stencil names stuck on someone elses piano. Sticking with acoustic pianos for this list.
If you know of any brands I missed, please let me know. Thanks for your help.
Altenburg Astin-Weight Baldwin Bechstein, C. Bluthner Bohemia Bosendorfer Boston Brodmann Cable-Nelson Cristofori Cunningham Edelweiss Essex Estonia Everett Fandrich & Sons Fazioli Forster, August Grotrian Haessler Hailun Hallet, Davis & Co. Hardman, Peck & Co. Heintzman & Co. Hoffmann, W. Irmler Kawai Kawai, Shigeru Kimball Kingsburg Knabe, WM. Kohler & Cambell Mason & Hamlin May Berlin Miller, Henry F. Palatino Pearl River Perzina, Gebr. Petrof Pramberger Ritmuller Samick Sauter Schimmel Schulze Pollmann Seiler Sejung Sohmer (Persis International) Steinberg, Wilh. Steingraeber & Sohne Steinway & Sons Steinway (Hamburg) Grands Story & Clark Suzuki Taylor London Vogel Walter, Charles R. Weber Wyman Yamaha Young Chang
My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...
I was wondering about Astin-Weight, too, as it is documented in this most recent Piano Buyer but I cannot find a website or contact info anywhere that is reliable, and past threads seem to have debated whether they still exist or not.
Any definitive answer?
Starting over after a decade-long hiatus from playing! Yamaha CLP320
Aren't a lot of these made in the same factories? When does it become a "Stencil"? For example "Suzuki" pianos, according to Larry Fine, are Chinese despite the Japanese name
Quote
Pianos made by: Artfield Piano Co., Qingpu, Shanghai, China
This company is associated with a range of brands, according to their website, like "Hermann" and "Krakauer"
And wouldn't "Boston" be a stencil brand of a Kawai sold by a Steinway dealer, and "Essex" of a Pearl River (that also makes Ritmuller and pianos under the "Pearl River" brand.
Baldwin is in a similar situation now.
It would be interesting to see how many different Factories there are making pianos; the list would probably only be half as long, if not one third....
Aren't a lot of these made in the same factories? When does it become a "Stencil"? For example "Suzuki" pianos, according to Larry Fine, are Chinese despite the Japanese name
Quote
Pianos made by: Artfield Piano Co., Qingpu, Shanghai, China
This company is associated with a range of brands, according to their website, like "Hermann" and "Krakauer"
And wouldn't "Boston" be a stencil brand of a Kawai sold by a Steinway dealer, and "Essex" of a Pearl River (that also makes Ritmuller and pianos under the "Pearl River" brand.
Baldwin is in a similar situation now.
It would be interesting to see how many different Factories there are making pianos; the list would probably only be half as long, if not one third....
Good point, although an area that gets muddy pretty quickly.
I consider stencil pianos to be pianos where the exact same models are sold under different names. This was common when I was selling pianos in the 60's and 70's, we even had "Curtis" pianos when I was working for Curtis Music Stores.
I think of stencils as different from pianos made by a manufacturer to specifications provided by the customer, and by that I don't mean the name plate or the color.
I'm sure this could be an entire separate discussion, and probably has been discussed on the forums more than once.
My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...
I can't remember the name, but I don't think it's on your list. Who is the technician who is making an upright strings as long as a concert grand, and you have to stand on a stool to tune it? Can't remember the name but it's a cool concept.
Knabe 5'2" Louis XV Walnut circa 1927 Very part time piano broker.
Paulello? Overs (Australia) could be considered in the same "mini-brand" category as Ravenscroft.
There are a number of one-off and experimental pianos out there - the Klavins is one, and the more recent 8 foot something upright built in Wahington state ((whose name also escapes me at the moment). There was also a teen who built a 10+ foot concert grand in Australia, and the 12 foot Rubinstein of course. Del Fandrich has a grand on the go. No doubt there are others, however I would not consider any of these a "Brand" in the sense of the OP.
1928 Chas. M. Stieff 6'1" Grand. Major rebuild 2011 1920 Mason & Risch Upright (actually my mother's) 1971 Hammond R-100 Roland KR577 Roland VK-8M Tonewheel organ module GigaStudio GS3 Ensemble (Bosendorfer & Estonia piano samples) Roland E20, JV30 (retired) An old concertina which I can't play
I can't remember the name, but I don't think it's on your list. Who is the technician who is making an upright strings as long as a concert grand, and you have to stand on a stool to tune it? Can't remember the name but it's a cool concept.
Heintzman and Company has absolutely no connection with the original Heintzman brand, although the current brand likes to claim the history of the original brand.
I can't find the link, but I have read a notice of a court order in Canada that ruled that the name Heintzman could no longer be used (of course this would only apply in Canada). The last real Heintzman pianos were made in 1986.
The current pianos with the Heintzman name are made in China, and it may be that it is an entirely Chinese company but I don't know for sure. In any event it would seem that the present company is trading on the original name, effectively pretending they have a history that goes back to 1866.
While in school, I played on a number of Heintzmans which were excellent pianos (not the Gerhard Heintzman though is it was not in the same class - Gerhard was Heintzman's nephew).
While in university, I played a six foot Heintzman grand extensively (three to four hours every Friday night for five years). It had a beautiful singing tone but the touch was quite heavy.
Gebr. Schulz, Wiesbaden, Germany. Former partner of C.F. Th. Steinweg Nachf., Grotrian, Helfferich, Schulz, Brunswick which is now Grotrian-Steinweg. Acc. to their website they produce a small range of grands (157cm, 178cm) and three types of uprights. Website: http://www.piano-schulz.de/BuyNew.aspx
Pianova, Fenner pianos with upright and grand manufacturing in Grossefehn, northern Germany west of Bremen. Their website tells of the „smallest grand production in Germany“. http://www.pianova.com/
George Steck pianos, manufactured in Jingdao, China. No stencil pianos but a separate brand of Sejung.
Eric Maene in Belgium, Paul McNulty in Czech republic, Hammerklaviere replica manufacturers?
Last edited by BerndAB; 09/30/1106:40 AM.
Pls excuse any bad english.
Centennial D Sept 1877
Working on Berceuse op.57 Nocturnes op. 9-1,3 15-1,2,3 27-2 32-1,2 Going Home (Mark Knopfler)
1. John Broadwood and Sons (1728), from Kent, UK, (Beethoven's Piano and others) 2. Pleyel (1807) of Paris, Chopin's Piano, are still being produced today
