Steinbach upright

mahjsa · Post by **mahjsa** » 24 Nov 2006, 22:21

Hi, I have just registered and browsed through the forum in search of the maker of a Steinbach piano I own.
I have hosted some pictures of typical detail on the following pages: http://home.hccnet.nl/m.savelsberg/steinbach.html

Most interesting detail is a serial number (10114) stamped on the soundboard and a shield with the latin text: Nihil sine Deo.

Filling out this serial number on http://www.pianos.co.uk/info/pianos/s/steinbach_c.php gives me a production date somewhere after 1925 for the STEINBACH PIANO MFG. CO. Turin, Italy. Could this be true or is this piano another Steinbach?

Marc Savelsberg

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 25 Nov 2006, 14:17

There were at least four different firms named Steinbach. A growing number of websites offer apparently simple dating of pianos by numbers. These dates are based on books, which in turn quote from other books which are often wrong or misleading. See the Numbers link at pianogen.org and also the Datemarks link there. "Nihil Sine Deo" was the motto of the Kingdom of Romania, so preumably this particular Steinbach supplied pianos to them. I'm guessing this might be H. Steinbach, of Berlin, and if you know how to remove the action safely (the working parts of the notes) it may be marked with the action makers' name and number, and I may be able to date these.

mahjsa · Post by **mahjsa** » 26 Nov 2006, 15:18

Ok so removing the action didnt amount to more information. However the closer inspection of the coat of arms on the interior did. This specific type was in use between 1872 and 1921.
I found an image on some italian site (http://www.rbvex.it/romania.html) showing the following image

So could this H. Steinbach have made the interior of this piano between these dates?

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 26 Nov 2006, 16:25

There is no guarantee that the "Nothing without God" emblem was used between those dates, it could easily be later, and my guess, based on very little detail, would be around the mid-thirties, but very little changed from the twenties to the fifties.

Starman · Post by **Starman** » 16 Dec 2006, 11:55

Hello,

I'm a newbie in this forum so please be patient! I've recently received a STEINBACH restored upright piano from my mother. The piano has the same logo and stemma "NIHIL SINE DEO" previously posted into the forum. I'm not able to find the serial number!
Do you have any idea on where I can search?
I'm posting some photos for anybody could help.
http://www.ahunt.altervista.org/piano.html

Thanks
David.

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 16 Dec 2006, 12:44

I can only refer you to the other postings for this name. No dates of serial numbers are available, so there is little point in worrying about where the serial number is, although it would be of interest to me. Have a look at the Datemarks link at pianogen.org or, if you know how to remove the action safely, (the working parts of the notes) the action makers' name and number may be on there somewhere, and we may be able to date this.

Starman · Post by **Starman** » 16 Dec 2006, 18:23

Bill, thank you very much indeed.

I think the action maker is L. Renner. I will keep you informed as the technician will come in January to tune the piano.
There are numbers on the metal hammer frame that I tried to photograph, they are 112B and 112D (marked on right and left respectively).
Although seems very simple to remove the action, I'll leave this operation to the expert!
I'll keep you informed as soon as I will be able to look behind the action.

Thanks for your help.
David.

stan11 · Post by **stan11** » 20 Feb 2007, 04:56

Hello, I hope you'll excuse my joining this thread. I am also trying to find information about a Steinbach upright, though it has the name logo in script, unlike the pictures from the previous poster, and no Latin motto or royal blazon. My parents bought it in Malaysia in 1977, supposedly nearly new, from some neighbors who were moving. The piano was shipped to California in 1980 and I continued to play it until I left home around 1990. For not having been tuned regularly since, the sound still seems pretty good, though a few keys stick. I may be biased, but I preferred it to the sound of some newer pianos I recently tested in our modest price range, eg. basic Yamaha or Kimball. I plan to get an opinion from a tuner/technician as to whether it makes sense to repair this piano and move it to my home 90 miles away. Any information I can give them about the piano would be helpful, since it's not a brand we see much in the U.S., although my dad thinks Steinbachs were reasonably common in Asia. The serial number stamped on the soundboard, 9884, when typed into an online program, yielded "after 1925" and the Turin Steinbach company that the other poster referred to. It has the insignia of the Singapore retailer that originally sold it under the cover on the right. I read that the Chinese company Pearl River makes a line of Steinbach pianos but am not sure when they started? Although Malaysia/Singapore are close to Australia, where Alex.Steinbach pianos are sold, their logo seems definitely to include the "Alex" and mine is just "Steinbach."

PianoGuy · Post by **PianoGuy** » 20 Feb 2007, 08:51

The 'Alex. Steinbach' common in Australia is a Korean piano.

I can't remember whether the brand was a rebadged Daewoo or (more likely) a Samick. They're much of a muchness anyway!

I preferred it to the sound of some newer pianos I recently tested in our modest price range, eg. basic Yamaha or Kimball

Anything in the entire Universe sounds better than a Kimball, surely?

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 20 Feb 2007, 10:04

There are at least 6 different sets of "Steinbach". A growing number of websites offer apparently simple dating of pianos by numbers. These dates are based on books, which in turn quote from other books which are often wrong or misleading. See the Numbers link at pianogen.org

stan11 · Post by **stan11** » 22 Feb 2007, 05:48

Yeah, Alex.Steinbach is a Samick.
I'm hoping my Steinbach is one of the Turin ones, which have Italian soundboards/German Renner actions/Japanese felt and keys...probably more worth salvaging than some of the others...but maybe the technician will be able to tell me something decisive about the innards regardless of brand.
The piano store did have a couple of brands sounding worse than the Kimball, but I have blanked their names out of my memory

PianoGuy · Post by **PianoGuy** » 22 Feb 2007, 08:26

stan11 wrote: The piano store did have a couple of brands sounding worse than the Kimball, but I have blanked their names out of my memory

I'll refresh it for you:

Willis, Grand, Betsy Ross, Lester, Wurlitzer, Whitney, Winter.....

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