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MMD > Archives > December 1998 > 1998.12.17 > 20Prev  Next


Reproducing Pianos in UK Collections
By Julian Dyer

Player Piano Group instrument listing

On the subject of instrument listings, the 1998 Player Piano Group
listing has just been completed.  I thought a few statistics might be
of interest.  From perhaps 200 listed collections, mostly UK with a few
scattered round Europe and some in Australia, there are the following
reproducing pianos:

Ampico: 37 (all but 1 are Model A)

    2 Boesendorfer                (grands)
    2 Broadwood                   (1 grand, 1 upright)
    1 each of Chickering, Erard, Fisher, Foster
    2 Franklin                    (1 upright, 1 grand)
    1 Gaveau                      (grand)
    4 Grotrian-Steinweg           (grand)
    2 Knabe                       (grand)
    2 Marshall & Rose             (1 upright, 1 grand)
    5 Marshall & Wendell          (4 upright, 1 grand)
    1 Mason & Hamlin              (grand)
    9 Rogers                      (2 upright, 7 grand)
    1 Weber                       (a converted grand)

Duo-Art: 126 (38 pedal-only, 17 electric-only, 70 pedal-electric)

    7 Aeolian                     (uprights)
    1 Ibach                       (upright)
    55 Steck (7 Gotha, 1 American, rest UK) (49 upright, 6 grand)
    23 Steinway                   (7 upright, 15 grand)
    40 Weber                      (32 upright, 8 grand)

Welte-Mignon: 12 (5 Red, 2 Green, 5 Licensee)

    1 Bechstein                   (upright)
    2 Feurich                     (grands)
    1 Rushworth & Dreaper         (upright)
    1 Steck                       (a converted Gotha upright)
    3 Steinway                    (2 upright, 1 grand)
    4 Waddington                  (uprights)

Interesting stuff!  You really can see how much Aeolian dominated the
UK market, particularly with the ubiquitous Steck upright.  Even if the
pedal-only Duo-Arts are excluded, on the grounds they amount to little
more than 88-note players, it's still Ampico 37, Duo-Art 87.  I would
guess if anything this over-estimates Ampico's market presence, because
collectors target them while Duo-Arts more commonly 'turn up'.

If I have time, I'll try to do a breakdown of the pedal players next.

Julian Dyer


(Message sent Thu 17 Dec 1998, 18:55:57 GMT, from time zone GMT.)

Key Words in Subject:  Collections, Pianos, Reproducing, UK

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