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MMD > Archives > August 2015 > 2015.08.25 > 07Prev  Next


Janssen "Modeska" Player Piano
By John Grant

"Modeska" pianos, made by Janssen, apparently date from 1928.
A Google search on "Modeska Piano" turns up numerous hits, of which
only about the first 50 are relevant, but several do have pictures.

A friend of a friend has one which I have not seen but will try to
have a look at it soon.  It is a player model but may or may not have
expression capability.  The friend says it is a secretary model.  They
were also made in a shorter "desk" motif.

The Virginia Musical Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia, has (or had)
a desk model, non-player.  I visit there frequently and will get
pictures next time.  One of the earliest references I found was a 1968
MBSI Bulletin article by Harvey Roehl, found here:

  http://www.mbsi.org/journal/MBSI-1968-14-4/MBSI-1968-14-4-10.pdf 

Sources differ on the number of notes, including 58, 61, 65, and 66,
but I can't imagine Janssen making so many different models with what
must have been a relatively low production run.  Roehl's article
mentions a Welte decal on the pictured instrument.  One of the photos
I saw in the Google hits showed what appeared to be a Recordo tracker
bar.

John Grant


(Message sent Tue 25 Aug 2015, 14:54:05 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  Janssen, Modeska, Piano, Player

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