Young Chang

Young Chang was founded in 1956 by three brothers Jai-Young Kim, Jai-Chang Kim and Jai-Sup Kim. Initially they distributed Yamaha pianos into Korea and other parts of Asia. South Korea was becoming widely known for producing high quality musical instruments and in 1964 the first Young Chang factory was built in Seoul.

When in 1985 the Aeolian Piano Company came to an end, Young Chang purchased the rights to use the brand name ‘Weber’ and in the following year established the Weber Piano Company. The practice of using old, respected European-sounding names to increase sales of pianos has been part of the long history of the piano trade. For whatever reason, the Weber subsidiary was sold to Samsung America in 1987.

Needing extra capacity for producing iron frames, Young Chang opened a foundry at Tianjin, China in 1988. The project there was further expanded a few years later when they opened a complete piano manufacturing complex. The Chinese facility allowed Young Chang to start serving the lower-end of the piano market.

Joseph Pramberger, a former head of manufacturing from Steinways joined the company in 1995. He brought many innovations to piano design at Young Chang, including an improved action and an asymmetrically tapered soundboard. The Pramberger Platinum series - incorporating some German action parts from Renner - was Young Chang's top-of-the-models range for three years. 

In 2018 Hyundai acquired Young Chang in 2006, renaming the company HDC Young Chang.

Steingraeber & Sohne Serial Nos.

 

Year	Serial No.	Year	Serial No.
1900	9750	1955	27000
1905	13000	1960	28000
1910	16700	1965	29710
1915	20600	1970	21420
1920	20800	1975	32770
1925	22000	1980	34180
1930	23750	1985	35500
1935	24300	1990	38000
1940	25450	1995	40500
1949	25620	2000	43000
1950	25800	2003	44500

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.

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Schmidt-Flohr Serial Nos.

 

Year	Serial No.	Year	Serial No.
1900	3300	1950	26400
1905	4900	1955	29200
1910	7000	1960	31350
1915	9700	1965	34800
1920	13000	1970	37000
1925	15800	1975	38160
1930	19600	1980	38800
1935	21800	1985	39501
1940	22700	1990	39801
1945	24000	1994	40741

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