Mason and Hamlin questions

[JWyatt1492@AOL.COM]

Hello Deborah !

    The answers to questions you ask will be vary in
different parts of the country. In the Dallas - Ft.Worth
area the following will be the approximate value.
   "A"      5ft.8          Black   $ 7 to   8.000  
   "AA"    6ft.3          Black   $ 8 to  11.000  
   "BB"    7ft.4          Black   $10 to 14.000 
    Black is worth less than Mah. Wal. or Rosewood.
 Fancy cases are worth more than plain.
    As to quality,  Perception and rumors can be many
different things.  Facts may be dull but they remain the
same.  
 The American Piano Co. Bought the Mason@Hamlin Co.
 in 1922.
 The Aeolian Piano Co. bought the American Piano in Co.
 in 1932.
      There are several "A" scales  A   A-2  A-3  A-4  A-5 
A-6.  It is my thinking that the A-6 is a little better. Oddly 
the "A"-5  was the scale used in  later years  
       Some of the "A"s added three ribs in the high treble 
these ribs were much smaller than regular ribs. This served 
a problem in an unclear tone. When replacing a 
soundboard I always replaced these with the standard size 
and number of ribs. Each time it cleared the tone in that section.     
     In my research and as a rebuilder over the past  50 or
so years I formed the following conclusions based on facts.  
     The Mason@Hamlin quality remained about the same 
from 1922 till 1932.  
      The Aeolian Co. in the years following the purchase
did  some "cleaning up the scales"  therefore improving the 
Piano.  This Information came to me directly from Elmer Brooks   
and my own experience. This is contrary to the popular pastime 
of some technicians of  "Aeolian bashing"   Elmer with his 
brothers George and  Allan were the backbone of the  E. 
Rochester N.Y. Plant. For a period of about 30 years the 
Mason@Hamlin remained a truly great piano. Each time I
visited this factory (built in 1903) I was more impressed. 
  The Heller family of N.Y. who owned the  factory sold it to some 
investors in the late sixties who hired an executive of a furniture 
factory named Luke Borger to run the Aeolian Piano Co. The 
rest, sadly, is history.     
                
  Sorry this had to be so long.
  Hope it helps.
  Jack Wyatt