R. Weissbrod

[klavierana]

Hi,
We have just gotten a new to us upright piano and would like to find out how old it is.
It says R. Weissbrod Eisenberg S.A. Sächs. Hof-Pianoforte-Fabrik. The serial number is 9242.
Any help greatly appreciated,
klavierana

[Bill Kibby]

Very few dates of Weissbrod numbers are available, all I can tell you is that they were established in 1884. If you can post photos here, or email them to me, I may be able to estimate the date.

If your tuner removes the action there may be an action maker's name and number, and I may be able to date this.

[klavierana]

thanks for your help, bill.
i will keep that in mind and ask the tuner when he comes round.

[klavierana]

just to let you know i was just informed that the piano was built in 1911.

[Bill Kibby]

Amazing, I should have stuck with my first instinct, 1912, or as I said to you, "just before 1914"! It's useful to have a date for the number. I have failed miserably in trying to get photos on this forum!

[artandbeyondlb]

Hi,
We have a new upright piano and would like to find out how old it is.
It says R. Weissbrod Eisenberg S.A. Sächs. Hof-Pianoforte-Fabrik. The serial number is 7289.
Any help about the manufacturer is greatly appreciated,
Joe.

[Bill Kibby]

To quote what I said in the items above...

Very few dates of Weissbrod numbers are available, all I can tell you is that they were established in 1884. If you can post photos here, or email them to me to post, I may be able to estimate the date.

If your tuner removes the action there may be an action maker's name and number, and I may be able to date this.

[Bill Kibby]

WEISSBROD (Robert) EISENBERG
Some dates of serial numbers are available in Musician's Piano Atlas.

1884 Established.
1897 Weissbrod received Leipzig Staats Medaille.

Circa 1897 #10833 "Good afternoon, I have a Weissbrod upright piano that was gifted to me and I am trying to find out more information about it. Would I be able to get assistance from you? Thank you, Jennifer 2016" "Under the top is brass and at the top of that it says in brass "R. Weissbrod hof-pianoforte-fabrik eisenberg churingen hochsle auszeichnungen staats medaillen etc." Under that is a number in black and that is "10833". Thank you for all your help:)"

1900 Weissbrod received Wickau Staats Medaille. Other exhibition medals are displayed on later Weissbrod pianos, but we have no details yet.
1909 is the estimated date of a Weissbrod piano on the filmmusicmontreal website.
1911 Listed as makers by Alfred Dolge "Pianos and their makers".
1915 is somebody's estimated date of Weissbrod piano #16657, suggesting that numbers increased by about 500 per year since 1897, but this disagrees with the published dates of their numbers, which suggest 1930.
1925 #13000 - first published number suggests a rough average of 320 numbers per year.
1928 Musique Adresses Universel lists R.Weissbrod, Eisenberg.
1932? #17968 Weissbrod piano is mentioned on David Boyce's website. "Hi Bill, Good to hear from you again. The Weissbrod piano is my own, and I wrote the wrong date! The serial number is 17968. The Musican's Piano Atlas has some numbers listed for Weissbrod. 1930 is 16500, and 1935 is 20000. So my piano is early 1930s. In my area there is another Weissbrod, about a decade older than mine. Best regards, David"
http://www.davidboyce.co.uk/

Youtube video link about Weissbrod... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxs1jLDdbE4

Later pianos apparently bear the name Wilhelm Steinberg.

[dboyce]

They are very fine pianos. My own has a beautifully ornamental plate. The bichord section is odd - I think at higher tension and with thinner core wire than would be used in a modern scaling. MIne, from the early 1930s, is 84 notes.

[Colin Nicholson]

Weissbrod seem to be well built pianos, but the grand piano I attempted to tune (about 3 years ago), sadly, was far from "fine". A local arts council near the university went out and bought this 6ft grand Weissbrod, and I believe the secretary of the arts council, who knew nothing about pianos, bought a complete shed. Had beautiful carvings throughout, and ornate cast iron frame work - but was riddled with RUST from head to toe due to being previously kept in a cold/ damp environment; black ebonies, much of the veneer was missing and blistered.

I attempted to (at least) to pre-tune it one tone flat, as there were signs of broken/ replaced strings due to heavy rust around the tuning pins, coils and most of the string's surfaces. When I told the secretary about its condition, she passed my info onto one of the pianists who was going to perform on this piano for a concert. In one of his replies, he said "why would a piano not be tuned to Concert Pitch?" ....... so I'll leave that for someone else to answer, after bashing my head against a brick wall !!