Steck Confusion

[duncanclark]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help me. I've been offered a Steck baby grand (roughly 4'8") by my grandmother, who is moving house and no longer will have room for it. I'm trying to get a sense of the piano's quality and value before I decide whether to take it.

I've read that Steck's were produced in the US (poor quality), Germany (excellent quality) and London (average quality), and my main question is this: how can I tell which it is? I've searched for a serial number, but so far all I can see is the following:

--STECK, in gold, in the normal place on the fall board.
--3 36, stamped on the back of the key slip.
--203 36, stamped on the inside back of the fall board.
--On the keyboard edge of the plate: Aeolian Company Ltd (to the left) and STECK (to the right).
--A Harrods tag on the inside of the case, which says: Harrods H No. 54223.
--Harrods, in small gold script on the right of the lid.

I'm pretty sure it was purchased from Harrods in the fifties or sixties, but I have a hunch that it was refurbished, not new, at the time.

If anyone can deduce anything about the piano from this lot, or give me any other advice, I'd be very grateful!

Thanks,
Duncan Clark

[Frank Renfrow Tuner]

Actually our American George Stecks (New York) were once exceptionally nice instruments. George Steck himself was a superb innovator, always looking for new ways to strengthen the structural integrity of his instruments for greater tuning stability. The quality held out for quite a few years even after the company was acquired by Aeolian and Weber. When the company morphed into Aeolian-American the George Steck designs were down-graded considerably (1930s?). I think the name is now in the hands of Pearl River in China.

However, your piano is probably the London Steck made by the London-based Aeolian firm. I just wanted to clear up any misconceptions regarding the quality of the original American George Steck.

[Bill Kibby]

The Harrods number suggests the mid-fifties. The number on the keyslip confirms the last digits of the main case number, but there are problems with Steck numbers, and the best bet is to remove the few keys at the bottom end, and look for a datemark. Julian Dyer tells me that Steck numbers come in two distinct series:
1905-1923 German-built ones made at Gotha run from circa 30000 to around 56000, 1905 to 1923 (although pretty well all the instruments he has seen are pre-1914).

See
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/piano ... mbers.html

http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/datem ... ianos.html

[duncanclark]

Thanks so much for the tips.

I looked for a date stamp on and under the bottom keys. I didn't find a date, but there was text on the side of the bottom key: small writing saying that the keys were British made, and larger writing that was presumably the manufacturer's name, though this was largely non-readable (all that was visible was ...ENE..., or maybe ...EME...) because the metal weights in the keys had been put right through it! Does this mean someone added the weights later?

I suppose the piano is probably British made, then, or is it possible that a Gotha-made Steck would have had a British keyboard?

I also found a number on the soundboard, confirming that 20336 is the serial number. But according to the Piano Atlas, this would date it to 1895-1900, when Stecks were produced in the US and not in Europe -- which doesn't seem likely.

Maybe my best bet is to find the year of the action (which is Schwaner, I think). Where are the action serial numbers usually found?

Any more tips or advice gratefully received...

Duncan

[Bill Kibby]

In an upright piano, the Schwander number would be hidden on the rear of the action, but in a grand, it should be visible on the front of the hammer rail. If you find it, you can date it with my chart, which is at the end of...
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/piano ... mbers.html