Altona Upright Piano

[davidflorence]

I have inherited an upright piano from my grandmother. It has a 'mahogany coloured' case and is a pretty piece of furniture. It has the word ALTONA on the underside of the lid. I know nothing about pianos and would therefore be interested to know about its age and any other info......thanks

[Gill the Piano]

Pictures of it - both inside and outside - would help us a lot. We can't tell much from a name alone, although Bill on the History section might have heard of it.

[davidflorence]

I have attached 2 pictures of the Altona Piano....a close up of the word Altona and another of the actual piano

Thanks

[Colin Nicholson]

Hi davidflorence

Welcome to the forum.
Your piano seems to be a 'stencil piano' by the way the name is appended to the fallboard, and regrettably there is no information or even a mention of "Altona" in my piano listings. The nearest is "ALTONE*" .... and the * next to its name (in the book, not on your piano) is a stencil name.

To learn more about stencil pianos, read my article (scroll about half way down)

http://www.aatuners.com/piano-age.html

From the piano images, this looks typically like a piano dated c.1900 - 1920, a cabinet from UK with a made-up name. Many retailers made up various anonymous names to make a piano sound appealing (and just give it a name) - this has a musical theme, hence "Alto" combined with a generic kind of "tone". Some names are often taken from other piano names/ towns/ cities/ composers. I suspect the letters are raised decals, or painted on in gold - or sometimes covered in French Polish.

A piano name with a real manufacturer's name that balances with the piano, will have the following features:-

# Name applied more ornate
# Name brass inlaid letters into the veneer
# Name/decal applied duplicate inside the piano/ soundboard/ cast iron frame/ wrest plank.
# Name listed in a book with serial numbers.

From the keyboard layout, I suspect this is a straight-strung piano with an over-damped mechanism inside.... resembling a bird cage (there are about 65 lift wires).... and a very common design of piano with square column legs.... so nothing appears out of the ordinary.

Quick test.... to determine if over-damped....
1. Open top lid & look inside.
2. While looking inside, play middle C (or another note in the middle of the piano).

You may see a wooden rail? .... does the felt pad lift AWAY from the string when you play a note? .... if so, your piano is over-damped.

If it's underdamped, you will see the hammers moving TOWARDS the strings?

Some clues may be found inside the piano if you can remove the front panel (see my website for an explanation/ slideshow) - however, I recommend that you don't remove the mechanism - and contact a piano tuner for further information if needed.

This has a standard generic veneer - possibly oak, and stained/coloured to make it look like rosewood or mahogany finish over a carcuss wood timber - also where there is any fading, this makes it more difficult to name.

Hope that helps

Colin

[davidflorence]

Many thanks for all the info

I have now checked inside the piano and the following number is stamped on the back (top left)

21775 A

Is this a serial number or something else?

[Colin Nicholson]

There are no listings at all about your piano - no mention (as I said before), so numbers are of no use. Many small "stencil" piano companies had their own number records.... but they never made the listings book. You can only go on the general look of the piano. Company/ factory may have been destroyed in WW1
Serial numbers don't usually have letters after them.... just numbers, and even if there were a long list of numbers on your piano.... no way of tracing them. Could be a stock number - but these cannot be traced also.

I wouldn't be too disheartened.... afterall, it was inherited to you.... they fetch very little money £0 -- £50 , and the name is made up.

Try: http://www.piercepianoatlas.com (you have to pay though!)

Here are listings (near your piano name).... remember, the pianos marked * are stencil pianos.... no origin, no dates, no history.... see for yourself.... just a name for sake of argument. Mentioned because they existed - that's all.

AL.... listing ?

Colin

[davidflorence]

Many Thanks for all the info......fascinating.......I will enjoy it as a piece of furniture

[Gill the Piano]

I will enjoy it as a piece of furniture

Noooooo! Learn to play it!