I recently (Aug 29,2004) found a William Knabe Co. spinnet style, upright piano at a ridiculously great price. I'm not a piano pro', but in college, I took "Piano Tuning and Repair Methodology" (stop laughing - it was a for-credit, gen-ed course), so I at least know what problems to avoid. There are three keys with slow return action, and one pedal broke its catch. These are minor repair items. The keys are level, and the attacks are all in good shape. If the piano still has the original felt pads maintaining the key levels, it's damn amazing. The sound board (straight grained, white spruce) is intact (and sounds great), and it doesn't look like the pegs have ever been juiced. :) Everything, even including the seat, appears to original, as well.
Here are some interesting facts about Knabe from http://www.pianoworld.com/knabe.htm
- The Knabe Piano Company was established in 1837 in Baltimore, Maryland.
- General Robert E. Lee was a frequent honored guest at the Knabe family home.
- Albert Einstein, who was a devoted music lover, owned a Knabe piano.
- Brigham Young liked the Knabe pianos so much that he had 3 Knabes at his home in Salt Lake City.
- Francis Scott Key (composer of Star Spangled Banner) owned a Knabe.
- Hans Von Bulow used a Knabe piano for all of his concert recitals in the United States.
- The Knabe piano was the official piano of the Metropolitan Opera house in New York for over 40 years
The piano has serial number 178544, which according to the above website, means it was manufactured in 1969.
According to http://www.pianos.co.uk/info/pianos/k/knabe.php It was manufactured from 1966-1970.
Either way, it's older than I am. ;)
For a more information about the Knabe family and company, please visit http://www.pianopiano.com/knabehistorybasic.htm
Reconditioning the Piano!
Day Two - Sept 4th, 2004
Day Three - Sept 5th, 2004
Day Four - Sept 6th, 2004
Day Five - Sept 14th, 2003
Day Six - Sept 19th, 2003