funktionalart
Well-known member
Thought I'd share something I have here at home because I know there are a few of us up here who are big fans of old pianos and music in general.
This is 1897 Ivers & Pond parlor upright -- one of those brilliant old over-built top quality instruments which will never be seen built again in our lifetimes! Interesting story on this one--I picked it up here in Phoenix about 12 years ago. At a St. Vincent de Paul, where I'd gone to donate some things. Saw it sitting behind a refrigerator in the back of the shop and just about dropped in my tracks. There was NO way I could let anyone else grab this. Normally, when you find one this old, it is packed with a century of dirt/dust/mess and a major project to put right. Almost never do you see one this pristine...especially at a thrift shop!
Though my pictures aren't the greatest (one day I'll photograph it properly), you can clearly see what the appeal was to me. This thing is like a time capsule. Fully original and unrestored--you could tell it had been cherished from day one. Drop dead gorgeous in and out. Zero sun-fade, perfect ivories...even the felts and hammers inside are quite like new. I've still yet to have it tuned. Pretty much in need of nothing (what a $$ saver).
Now, for the best bit--The original owners names are factory stamped inside. When I saw the name "Sawyer"...something sounded familiar about that. I just couldn't quite piece it together the day I bought it. Being a bit of a genealogist, I decided to research it last year--I had a memory of there being Sawyers in my family way, way back. As it turns out, my great-great grandmother was a Sawyer, and this particular piano was built for her Uncle Alvin and his wife--who owned a music store in Boulder back in the 1880s-about 1910. I've since located the original building where this piano was delivered (The Sawyers were also Ivers & Pond resellers/reps) and alot of information on their old business. Even some documentation. What a really one-off situation where an instrument like this comes full circle after 120 years and winds up still with a family member. Would love to know where it had been for a century before I finally got it!
I'm really low tech, and haven't got a way to make a video of this piano at work. But I left a youtube link for a track by my lifelong favourite singer (Dusty Springfield) with the opening piano track which sounds EXACTLY like my own Ivers & Pond. For almost 50 years, this has been my personal benchmark for what the ideal piano sound is...and the biggest reason I even bought the thing in the first place.
This is 1897 Ivers & Pond parlor upright -- one of those brilliant old over-built top quality instruments which will never be seen built again in our lifetimes! Interesting story on this one--I picked it up here in Phoenix about 12 years ago. At a St. Vincent de Paul, where I'd gone to donate some things. Saw it sitting behind a refrigerator in the back of the shop and just about dropped in my tracks. There was NO way I could let anyone else grab this. Normally, when you find one this old, it is packed with a century of dirt/dust/mess and a major project to put right. Almost never do you see one this pristine...especially at a thrift shop!
Though my pictures aren't the greatest (one day I'll photograph it properly), you can clearly see what the appeal was to me. This thing is like a time capsule. Fully original and unrestored--you could tell it had been cherished from day one. Drop dead gorgeous in and out. Zero sun-fade, perfect ivories...even the felts and hammers inside are quite like new. I've still yet to have it tuned. Pretty much in need of nothing (what a $$ saver).
Now, for the best bit--The original owners names are factory stamped inside. When I saw the name "Sawyer"...something sounded familiar about that. I just couldn't quite piece it together the day I bought it. Being a bit of a genealogist, I decided to research it last year--I had a memory of there being Sawyers in my family way, way back. As it turns out, my great-great grandmother was a Sawyer, and this particular piano was built for her Uncle Alvin and his wife--who owned a music store in Boulder back in the 1880s-about 1910. I've since located the original building where this piano was delivered (The Sawyers were also Ivers & Pond resellers/reps) and alot of information on their old business. Even some documentation. What a really one-off situation where an instrument like this comes full circle after 120 years and winds up still with a family member. Would love to know where it had been for a century before I finally got it!
I'm really low tech, and haven't got a way to make a video of this piano at work. But I left a youtube link for a track by my lifelong favourite singer (Dusty Springfield) with the opening piano track which sounds EXACTLY like my own Ivers & Pond. For almost 50 years, this has been my personal benchmark for what the ideal piano sound is...and the biggest reason I even bought the thing in the first place.
