Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum A surprisingly good, old piano

So I have posted some questions on here about pianos, digital vs acoustic, my sons hearing loss, etc...and everyone has been wonderful. Well, we decided to take up our neighbors on their offer of their family piano. It was moved down the street to our house today...and surprise (I have been really nervous), the mover, who is quite knowledgable in pianos was impressed, really impressed for the condition for its age. It is a Weber New York, serial number 49708. He actually stuck around and played it for a while! He was saying they see so many horror stories of old pianos that people take care of but don't age well, he was really surprised! Made me feel a little relief. It is rosewood and the keys are in good shape, only one small chip on edge of one key. Sounded nice...my son will be so excited after school. I am trying to figure out how to post pics. The mover said I should tell the tuner, that he needs to see this piano. So glad we decided to try this out, a new adventure with an old piano. Just had to share...



[email:http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/image.jpg]http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/image.jpg[/email]

Hi TJPP!

I took the liberty of posting the picture of your new-to-you Weber in your post window... hope you don't mind.

Congratulations on a fine looking instrument!

I have a soft spot in my heart for old pianos.

All the best!

Rick

I, too, have a great deal of sympathy for old pianos. Yes, they are sometimes in need of extensive restoration, and yes, sometimes that restoration is more than the value of the instrument (in terms of ££), but you know, sometimes you get a good one, and the sound is just everything you could want!

Webers made piano in this country too, I'm not sure if they were the same or different to the American ones, but they were good pianos.

Thank you Rickster...I was trying to figure out how to do that!

Just so everyone remains completely confused there were no less than nine piano manufacturers who used the name WEBER.

Weber, Albert NY
Weber & Co, East Rochester NY
Weber, E & Co. NY
Weber, F Berlin Germany
Weber, Ferdinand Dublin
Weber, Frederick NY
Weber & Fuchs Eisenberg Germany
Weber Piano Co. England
Weber Piano Co. Kingston, Canada

Now if that is not enough then we can start on the Weber’s with two B’s......

Congratulations!

That's a very handsome piano. Does it sound as good as it looks? Can't wait to hear about your son's reaction.

Looking great! Congratulations.

Thank you for all the encouragement! Have to say it has been a fun day! My son was thrilled, literally threw off the backpack and started playing! Smile a mile wide....Played all his songs that he knows, then used my ipad to look up Coldplay (his favorite) and taught himself several bars of Clocks and Viva La Vida. (He knows quite a bit of the Scientist too.). He was on the piano all night, hard to even get him to go to bed! His older brother, very supportive (cello player) and little sister was dancing around and playing the old keyboard, was a fun night in our house!

Will be interesting to see how it sticks over time! He did jump back over to his keyboard to try a song and he commented how it was easier to play, but prefers the old, new to us acoustic piano. He did not make any comments about his hearing aids or sound, so it will be interesting to see how that goes too!

One more question...how do I know which Weber it is and the year? Assuming the serial numbers are all different by brand. We have a call into a recommended tuner, so hope to find out more then! Any other pics I should post?

Marty-yes, it sounds great, again, surprising, can't imagine what it will sound like fully tuned!

That's a good=looking piano! I had a Weber seven-foot grand for many years (from the Aeolian era -- c. 1917) and got much (and strenuous) use out of it. Good sound; it was a real piano. I hope yours is as well. Let us know the date of manufacture if you find it out.

For what it's worth, my serial number was on an ivory keyslip riveted to the left side of the interior case. But with an upright, it could be elsewhere.

The Weber logo on the fallboard looks just like yours, but mine said "New York - London." Also there was the image of an eagle, in relief, cast into the plate

I have a couple more photos, how do I add to post? Thanks for the help!

Great--congratulations! I'm sure you and your family will get huge enjoyment out of this lucky piano.

That's great that you found one in playable condition. Too many times I have seen beautiful instruments that had no hope of producing a sound to match their case.

Congrats - what a great looking piano!

If you should decide you want to have the Ivory chip repaired, it can be, btw (some people don't realize this). If it's a small chip it can be repaired and the original keytop retained... I think if the chip is too big the tech would replace the keytop.

Copy the URL address of your picture (starting with http and ending with jpg). In the full post window, select the 4th icon from top left and click "insert a nonfloating image" from the drop-down menu. Paste the URL address of the pic in the prompt script pop-up window and click OK.

To see if your picture is pasted in your post, click on the "Preview Post" icon at the bottom left.

Hope this helps...

Rick

Alright, I am trying again...was having a hard time with multiple photos!i couldn't figure how to get the names to change.
[img]http://s1298.beta.photobucket.com/user/Tjppnw/library/[/img]

Thought I'd help you out again...

You have to right click on the photo on the pic hosting site and then select "properties" that is where you will see the URL address.

Great looking piano!

Rick

Rick, not sure how I got through this posting without you, thanks! Pianos, big learning curve, posting pictures, big learning curve as well

Our son was still playing strong last night, I cannot believe how in a couple of nights he has gotten as far in learning a song or two as he has, especially with having to have a little more pressure behind the keys with the differences in the action. He also has been using the pedals and learning the differences in that too. He didn't have that in the partial keyboard digital.

It's so much fun to read an up-beat thread with a great outcome!

Now you just have to excavate your trapped artwork and wait for the tuner.

PS - Are you experienced with "revitalizing" an old varnish finish? If you would like a few tips, send me a PM.

Enjoy,