Dear list -- I was interested in finding out what Les had written earlier about Bush and Lane, so I used the searcher and found it. Just last March! Time flies. I thought some more of us might enjoy reading it again, without the bother of searching the archive for it, so here it is. Susan ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 00:01:14 -0500 (EST) >From: Les Smith >Subject: Re: Sealed pianos >To: pianotech@byu.edu > >Hi, Richard. > >Since you brought up Bush and Lane, and since I promised you a lit- >tle background on them a couple of weeks ago, I'll continue on that >thread a moment. Bush and Lane enjoyed a brief existence of only >about thirty years, but in that brief period of time produced some >of the finest upright pianos ever made by an American manufacturer. >Bush and Lane also produced a few grands (5'8") but their reputation >wqs established largely upon their upright pianos. > >The "Bush" in Bush and Lane referred to the two Bush brothers of Bush >abd Gerts fame. They were the money men, the commercial end, so to >speak of the operation. That "Monster" upright sitting in your shop >right now reflects the genius of Walter Lane, who now, like Ernest >Knabe, is all but forgotten and relegated to a mere footnote in the >history of the American piano. He deserves to be remembered. As that >piano in your shop probably suggests. > >Walter Lane garnered his piano-making skills by working with Theodore >Heintzmann in Canada for a number of years and then with the A.B. Chase >company here in the states. Afterwards, Walter and the Bush brothers >formed the Victor piano and Organ Company in Chicago. Later they changed >the name to Bush and Lane and moved the operations to Holland Michigan. > >The production records tell you that Bush and Lane made about 63,000 >pianos in their 30 years of existence. The actual figure is probably >lower than that. As you can see from the piano in your shop, the B&L >was a high-quality, expensively made instrument, right from the very >beginning. As the years went by, they just kept getting better. > >Bush and Lanes were noted for their massive cases, heavy cupular >plate construction, and a series of soundboard, bridge and frame- >work innovations all designed to give them a quality of tone, pro- >jection and carrying power second to none. In this respect the B&L >could give similar vintage uprights produced by the likes of Steinway, >M&H, Knabe, Weber and the like a real "run for their money'. The single >best upright I've ever heard in terms of tone-quality, projection and >and carrying power was a 1927 Bush and Lane. In a list of the top 10, >three would be Bush and Lanes, the other Steinway, Weber, Knabe, etc. >They were THAT good. > >Bush and Lane's production run can be divided almost in half. Those >instrument produced from their founding as the Victor Piano and Organ >Company until 1914, and those produced from 1914 to their demise in >1930. The date 1914 is of major significance. Prior to 1914 B&L pro- >duced regular, non-player instruments; primarily uprights, but also >a few of those 5'8" grands. The earlier, pre-1914 uprights used that >brass rail flange arrangement you found in your 1912-13 upright. >After 1914 they switched to a more standard wooden flange design. So >the reason you're having trouble finding astion parts for your upright >is that that particular design has been out of production for about >85 years! > >Bush and Lane's reputation, for those of you who are familiar with >the name, is largely based upon the pianos they built after 1914; >In 1914 B&L entered the player piano market by acquiring the by-then >famous "Cecilian" player name from the Ferrand Company which had been >making players since 1887. Walter Lane took the player operation in >hand and eventaully produced a player action as unique and of a >quality as high as that of his pianos. Standard action, by many is >regarded as the "Cadillac" of the player mechanisms. If so, then >Walter Lane's player action has to be regarded as the "Rolls Royce" >of them. In a word they were superbly designed. > > Where as most player actions like Standard, Simplex, Gul- >bransen and the like were made of wood, and prone to all the pro- >blems a porous material like wood could pose to a vacuum-operated >system, Walter lane chose to make his player action out of metal. >Like his pianos the B&L player action of the twenties was an ex- >pensively made, limited-production mechanism of unique design. It >weighed in at 200 pounds, three times that of many of it's com- >petitors. By the twenties the always massive uprights were weighing >in at almost 750 lbs. Add to that a player mechanism of 200 pounds >and you wind up with the heaviset commercial player ever built. Total >weight approaching 1000 pounds! > >>From first to last the Bush and Lane piano company of Walter Lane was >a first class operation. They produced expensive, limited-production >instruments of the highest quality. As they lived, so did they die. >The crash of '29 and the ensuing "Great Depression" killed off the >player piano industry almost overnight. In 1925, 3/4 of all the pianos >made were players. By 1930, they were almost all gone. By 1932 they >were all gone. Those companies that survived did so by merging with >other companies and corporations such as Aeolian. At the same time, >as they switched from making players to non-players, in many in- >stances the quality of the instruments produced began to drop off >markedly. The years after 1930 marked the beginning of the end of the >American piano Industry. Today Steinway and Baldwin remain, but the >rest are all gone. Bush and Lane, too. > >In 1930 Walter Lane had a decision to make. He could either return >to making non-player pianos once again, and probably have to com- >promise quality in favor of economic survival like his competitors; >He could sellout his corporate soul and reputation to Aeolian, like >so many others chose to do; or he could simply call it quits, close >up shop, and let his reputation rest on what he had accomplished >during the preceeding thirty years. A class act to the very end, >he chose the latter option. Whenever the old, fine-quality American- >nade pianos and player pianos are discussed, Walter Lane's name >deserves to be mentioned. Find one of his instruments in good, play- >able condition, or restore one to it's original condition, and, like >Richard, you'll discover why. > >Les Smith >lessmith@buffnet.net >
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