Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Just received an H.C. Bay Company player piano

Looking for a price on a 1911 H.C. Bay Company upright player piano. It is marked with "Solo Concerto" and has the number 22605 engraved on it as the piano number, or serial number. It's in almost perfect shape, in working order, and has been converted to operate by electric motor. It was a surprise gift from a friend and I would be greatly appreciative of any information I could get on it. Thank you so much for this opportunity.
TeresaRae

The "price" is what someone pays for something...

I have seen thousands of old pianos, but never one that was 100 years old and "almost perfect". The fact that an electric motor has been retro-fitted points to a leaky and tired player which no longer responded properly to foot pumping.

Its value is probably not more than a few hundred $. Often this kind of piano can be found for free.

But don't let that stop you from enjoying playing it by hand and by rolls.

If you really want to know how much you could sell it for, you need to call in a technician to do an appraisal. There can be many things amiss with a piano that a layperson cannot detect or judge.

Thank you so much for your response. I will enjoy it either way!

Congratulations on getting a player!

Usually the "Solo Concerto" means it only has a 80 note stack (the part that plays the keyboard).This was a clever marketing ploy to allow the player to play expression rolls (IE rolls that have coding holes punched in the 1st and last 4 holes on a roll) , but as the 1st and last 4 holes are not connected to the stack , it increases the range of rolls it can play eg:Duo Art , Recordo ect , as well of course as just normal 88 note rolls.
Some people may think there getting ripped off , but there is very few rolls that play any of the lowest and highest notes anyhow.

Pump , enjoy and have fun

Dan ..........

How 'bout some video performances?

Players can be a lot of fun; most of the rolls are music played from days gone; stride, foxtrot, marches, cakewalk, tin pan alley, etc…… although one can purchase new rolls of contemporary music too…..

H.C.Bay was one of the first factorys to make Stencil pianos. At one time they sold a 5' grand that retailed for $695.00.It was sold all over the U S under many names. The tell tale sign was, feel the thickness of the underside of the rim. It was about one half inch thick.And no posts.

I can't tell you how great it is to be learning all these things. I am truly fascinated by this experience. Thank you all for your input, I look forward to more.
One question though, in reference to Dan Silverwood's reply: Is it likely that an H. C. Bay Co. Piano would end up being made by Mason and Risch, Willis Piano Co., or any other maker? I am ignorant to these topics, so forgive me if this is a silly question.

Nope,my mistake,

I read the name partly incorrect. I read it as the Hudson Bay Co…not sure why this morning; maybe not enough coffee yet.
Indeed the HC Bay Co was Bluffton Indiana….#22605 build date was 1928.

I fixed the previous posting so that readers don’t get confused.

Thank You for that, I feared I was more ignorant to the piano world than originally thought! I appreciate your response!