Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Gulbransen Pianos

This is topic Gulbransen Pianos in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 06-22-2004, 11:43 PM:

Here's one for you musicians and pianologists...were they good, bad, well constructed, well respected? The neighbor of a good friend is moving and has a spinet to sell for $600. It is like new and has been very little played and quite well cared for so it is in excellent condition. I need to look at it and possible make the deal for somebody 125 miles away. I guess it comes down to whether they good in the first place...any suggestions?

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 06-23-2004, 07:09 AM:

The bottom has pretty much dropped out of the used piano market, ESPECIALLY spinets. To get an idea, check the "completed items" for Gulbransen pianos or spinet pianos on eBay.

If it's a nice vertical grand (a.k.a. "upright piano") things are a little better, but otherwise the saleable ones are antiques & players. It's not a whole lot better for uprights that are of medium reputation - sometimes you'll see someone insane trying to sell a fairly baseline upright that doesn't even have a sostenuto pedal on eBay for like $3,000.

My Pierce's Piano Atlas is gone, but there's a page about Gulbransen pianos at
http://www.pianoworld.com/gulbransen.htm
The useful information there are the serial numbers & the company timeline. Most piano companies & names were at some point sold (sometimes repeatedly) to companies that made fairly cookie cutter pianos that weren't really differentiated across the brands they owned, & differed only in the name on the lid. They were then derogatorily called "stencil" pianos.

The Gulbransen timeline hilariously refers to the name being sold at one point to CBS, "Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) purchases Gulbransen, Steinway and Sons; Rodgers Organs; Gemeinhardt Flute; Lyon and Healy Harp; Fender Rhodes and others to form the world's most prestigious musical instrument company." The Steinways produced while owned by CBS are universally reviled.

Selling a piano is also very dependent on local market, since few people want to transport something that weighs as much as a Hyundai. So even if in Indianapolis your nice upright might fetch $600, in Wiggins MS there may be no one who wants it for $100.

Sad to say, but for people moving & trying to unload spinets, often the only thing effective is to just give it away to someone who'll come get it. Advertise it for $200, if there are no takers, put an ad in the paper that doesn't make it sound like it's garbage you're throwing out. Usually it's "Very nice Gulbransen piano available, must have the room immediately, free or best offer to a music lover or with a child interested in music in the home, must pick up."

Spinets were basically practice & small home & recreational instruments. For students, they were good to start on with little chirren's muscles. But as they got older & started doing recitals & concerts, they found that they would be playing a grand in performance, & a grand requires mongo in your hands & forearms to play. Sometimes you get a grand with a stiff action, & you got to be a gorilla. Practice on the light action of a spinet doesn't get you there.

Story from a friend:
"Rosa Rio was telling me about this friend of hers in New Orleans who was a concert pianist who also played regular piano gigs in a bar down in the quarter. One night a drunk came up & started pestering her, you know, being rude, and she's a pianist you know, she's got strong hands, & she's playing and singing, & she gets to a spot where she just has to play with one hand, & she reaches back with the other one & knocked him out without stopping."