List, I posted about this piano several years ago but never received any replies. Since there are so many new people on the list now, I thought I'd try again. I had to tune it the other day and my curiosity was aroused once more. The brand name on the fallboard is: (both u's should have umlauts) Gebruder Knake Munster I/W Germany There are only 85 keys (stops at A7) and the coverings are the waterfall type. At the back of the tail there is a brad inserted and on the bottom ront of the key are 2 brads, visible above the keyslip, all flush with the keytop. The side arms have brass strips with app. 27 screws on the top piece and 15 on the side piece, shaped to fit the contour of the arm. Each corner of the keybed also has a separate, small brass piece screwed onto the case. The tail is not completely rounded but has two edges on it which also has brass strips attached to them. The music desk is ornately cut out, not solid pieces, with sections on each side which partially slide out toward the keyboard. The center of the desk has the shape of a music lyre cut into it. The pedal lyre is shaped like a music lyre and has two pedals. The left one is a shift pedal. The legs are the squatty, round, fluted type. On the folded back portion of the lid, there is a large round oval cut into the center of the wood and says: Made Expressly for the Climate of India by Order of Mssrs. Marcks & Co. Ld. Bombay & Poona The action has 5 wooden brackets and the keyframe has the cheek blocks (glued?) installed so that they are not removable and slide out with the keyframe. On the left side of the keyframe is stamped: R1245 DYS DYSON & SONS CROYDON he right side has the number 5577 stamped into the frame. Serial #? There are no capstans but have the rocker arm type of adjustments with the front part containing regular screws and the back part containing slotted type of screws similar to that type of drop screws, except appreciably larger. The jack (tails) are reversed with the let-off screws inside the "wippen", app. half the length of the shank back toward the hammers. Hammer shank flanges are fairly large flat brass, pinned to a 'squarish' type of hammer butt thing, into which the shanks are glued. The plate is more or less standard except the tenor strut by the pinblock doesn't make a /\ like most plates. (I don't know how to describe it. It's the area where some manufacturers place the serial and model number.) The top two treble sections have a removable 'capo' bar similar to that on a Bosendorfer. I'm sorry about the length of this but I wanted to give as many clues as possible so maybe someone can give me some information about this instrument. It's in the home of the President of the University of Houston and I "think" was originally donated by some individual here in Houston but I haven't been able to find out who. Thanks for any help you can give me. Avery
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC