Showing posts with label Broadwood Pianos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broadwood Pianos. Show all posts

Tuesday 28 October 2014

Broadwood Serial Nos.



Year
Serial No.
Year
Serial No.
1935
254000
1972
266070
1940
256150
1974
267018
1942
256300
1976
267841
1944
256900
1978
268500
1946
257600
1980
269180
1948
258000
1982
270300
1950
258832
1984
272500
1952
259600
1986
276500
1954
260200
1988
279500
1956
261061
1990
282500
1958
262370
1992
282800
1960
263001
1994
283050
1962
263616
1996
283221
1964
264120
1998
283570
1966
264537
2000
283680
1968
264942
2001
283720
1970
265336
2003
283794

These serial numbers can be used only as a reference point.
An Exact date does not make a material difference to an assessment of a piano - a year or so out 120 years ago really is neither here more there.

The idea that 100% accuracy for all piano makers over a century ago is an interesting thought - but considering that all record keeping would be hand-written and kept in large ledger books, inaccuracies are likely. These records will be as reliable as the clerks whose job it was to keep them. The digital age of barcodes and scanned labels was still in the realm of science fiction. So we have to be content with our best guess numbers.

Back to the Piano Atlas

Wednesday 17 September 2014

Challen Pianos

The beginnings of the Challen piano company are a little sketchy. The start date, claimed by some is 1804 but the earliest record of piano-making under the name of William Challen is 1835. The Challen family was involved in building pianos for nearly 100 years! 

Frank Challen (1862 - 1919) had piano-making blood in his veins but after a family dispute in 1907 he left the family firm, taking his natural talents to work for J. & J. Hopkinson Ltd. His improvements to the Hopkinson range of pianos quickly attracted universal approval and when Hopkinson’s merged with George Rogers & Sons, the refinements were applied to the Rogers range of pianos too. Even today, if these pianos are in good condition, they still have a very classy sound.

After the First World War, conditions were difficult for the industry. The trade price for a Challen Baby Grand was £103. and by 1920 the price had risen to £138. To make matters worse, the importing of better pianos began. By 1922, a 5’ 6” Bosendorfer was sold to the trade for only £93. Challen production sunk to about 10 pianos per week.   

About 1927, the company was taken over by Willie Evans. From very unpromising beginnings, by 1929, he had turned the business round. In one year he had doubled production. 1932, he moved to newly built premises in Middlesex. Better management brought about a significant reduction in the sale price which resulted in more sales. 

At this time, Challen mostly made baby grand pianos. These neat and elegant little pianos ranging from 4ft proved a very desirable addition to the typical middle class home. 

In 1931, Broadwoods approached Evans about taking on the manufacture of Broadwood pianos. Using Challen designs but bearing the Broadwood name, these pianos were produced side by side with Challen pianos throughout the 1930s.

1936, the the B.B.C. were looking for suitable pianos to use in their broadcasts. The Challen piano was selected and this of course meant more positive publicity and even more sales. In the year 1937, Challen produced just over 3,000 pianos! 

In 1959, Evans sold the business and sadly, following the general decline of the British pianos industry, the Challen name changed hands several times until 1984, when the owning company was declared insolvent.


Directory of Piano Makers

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Wednesday 22 August 2012

Broadwood Grand Pianos

Broadwood Pianos have been around since 1728. Not many examples of an 1860s Broadwood piano survive to this day, and even fewer of these are in good working order today. When new these pianos were stunning examples of high-quality, English craftsmanship. A hundred and fifty years takes quite a toll on a piano and ordinarily, I am not a fan of these relics of the 19th century but it is refreshing to be surprised by good examples when they are met with. I have come across 2 such pianos that deserve mention. 

1980s Broadwood Letterhead
One of the pianos must have been at least 7' 6" long - if you sat at the keyboard and squinted a little, you could just about make out the far end of the piano! I did not expect it to be up to pitch, but it was only a quarter-tone flat. The strings had been replaced at some point but the wrest pins were still the old, oblong ones that were fitted when new. One of the pins in the bi-chord section of the bass strings had snapped off, so instead of two strings on that note, there was only one.

The hammers had been recovered, but not terribly well - the high treble hammers jammed against the front edge of the wrest plank. Not too much of a problem for most players, but we fussy old tuners like all the notes to work! 

The rich colours of its rosewood case, made it a very fine-looking piece of furniture. The flat wooden pedals always look odd to modern eyes but at least they are the 'real thing' - if they had ever been replaced with modern pedals, it would no longer look the part.

The ivory keys were still white and still had a shine to them. Some were worn thin in the middle of the playing surface, but this is not surprising after more than a century of use. So often, the original ivories are yellowed with age, and more often than not a few of the originals have been replaced with ill-fitting substitutes.

So there it was, this remarkable old piano, in a charmingly renovated house that was even older than the piano, - a perfect setting for an instrument so well-preserved. The fascinating thing is that after 150 years, this piano is still regularly played, loved and appreciated. John Braodwood & Sons certainly knew how to build a piano that would last! 

The second piano is another grand - the serial number of this piano does not fit neatly into any of the categories listed in the Pierce's Atlas, but I reckon it must have been made about 1860. 

The case, for its age, is stunning - the rich Rosewood veneer still boasting the bold stripes of the grain. The polish has been preserved to the point that most would not think it in need of any particular attention.

But from a tuner's point of view, the most remarkable thing is that it is only a little flat in pitch - (I believe when this piano was built, the standard pitch was a little lower than A 440.) Over the years, 2 bass strings have been replaced, and couple of treble strings - apart from these, the strings are those fitted when new! A few treble strings are absent. The original oblong tuning pins still holding firmly in the original wrest plank! 

The piano is regularly used to accompany singers, occasionally for concerts but is always appreciated by pianists and audiences alike. Live music is still a wonderful social phenomenon that dates back to long before this piano was made.

The action is one of the odd incarnations of Broadwood's own design but still playing acceptably and capable of expression and colour. The tone is the one big give-away, but even here, the sound is extremely good for its type.

These grand old pianos are from a time when serious craftsmen built everything to last, a time when gentleman tuners wore hats. If I had a hat, I would take it from my head as a mark of respect, a salute to the beauty of  esteemed craftsmanship. These pianos are works of the piano-maker's art.   

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Thursday 26 April 2012

Piano Makes

Jane Austen mentions a Broadwood piano in at least one of her novels. In her day, pianos were objects of status and the ability to play was proof of a refined education. These things no longer carry the same significance though of course, the dynamics of status are still with us. The objects desired today are smart phones, expensive cars and the latest technological gadgets! 

The Broadwood name is known only to pianists who probably were told long ago that Broadwoods were the best English-made piano. However, such a high opinion of Broadwood Pianos was not universally held - years ago, I remember an elderly tuner say, somewhat unflatteringly: "Ah yes, Broadwood Pianos! The bass is very broad, and the treble very wooden!"    

Quirky English names on elderly pianos can be amusing - especially as in the business world have to be catchy or striking in some way. How about the following: Thompson & Shackle; Jarrett & Gouge; Skerrett; or Dunmo, Ellis & Hill; Duck, Son & Pinker; Dale Forty; Green & Marsh; Wallis Harris; Witton & Witton.


This Macintosh piano has absolutely nothing to do with Apple Computers and 
I do not imagine that Apple Mac will ever dabble in making acoustic pianos. This is an inexpensive piano made in Edingburgh. Straight strung, over damped, rather tired now, but with a decent enough tone and quite tuneable.

Even when new, this sort of piano was never brilliant, but clearly, they were built well enough to last a very long time.  

Uncomplicated and honest, pianos like these, never pretend to be more than what they are, they just continue doing what they were built for - making music! Thousands of makers put together pianos like this and proudly put their names on the fall-board. Sadly, most are now entirely forgotten. 

There was an old German maker called 'Lubitz' but you don't often see a Lubitz piano here in the UK. One might think a firm called 'Lubitz' made toilet spares!
© Steve Burden 
Piano World