This page contains a huge list of piano makers and manufacturers. There is also a huge number of piano brand names. This listing contains hundreds of pianos in it's long history of manufacturing. Many piano company names on this list are no longer used and the makers in some cases have been out of business for years. Gibson Guitars Guitars acquired the Hamilton name in 2001, when they purchased the Baldwin Piano Co. See Acrosonic or Baldwin for additional numbers. Serial numbers are for the first piano made in year shown.
| Location | 1519 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48226 |
(image: http://www.historicdetroit.org/building/grinnell-brothers-music-house/)
Located in Downtown Detroit, the Grinnell Brothers Music Building is a standing memory of the rise and fall of a company. The brothers who started this retail store originally sold sewing machines door-to-door and then incorporated music merchandise into their first store in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It wasn't until the brothers had a successful piano manufacturing plant in Holly, Michigan, that the still recognizable store on 1519 Woodward Avenue was constructed.
Albert Kahn, a reputable architect who built numerous buildings and plants that were representative of the European Modernism architectural style, built the Grinnell Brothers Music Building in 1908. The building's neighbors consisted of the Fisher Arcade, Sanders, and a clothing department store. Grinnell was a respected company and eventually became the world's largest piano-distributor by the 1950s. Not long after in the 1960s, Grinnell had over 35 stores selling pianos in addition to other instruments. The company was at a high and bought the Sanders building located next door in 1963.
The Grinnell Brothers Music Building is a reminder of the company's history that is somewhat similar to the city it is located within. In 1967 after the Detroit Riots, the company lost much business due to people avoiding downtown. The company had periods of growth and decline afterwards, with different owners trying to salvage a company that had been around for almost 100 years. In 1981, the Grinnell was officially bankrupt, leaving the building on 1519 Woodward Avenue empty.
Right now the building is not in use, but is located in an area that is starting to be built up once again. It is interesting to note how similar one company is to the city of Detroit's history as a whole. The location of the main company headquarters seemed to be its downfall. Now we have to look at this building and see if it will follow Detroit's history once more, and be utilized into something new and revived. Not more than a mile away from the Grinnell Brothers Music Building a new sports complex will be built, bringing more supposed positive traffic to Downtown Detroit. Will this new construction bring people who want to see something historically significant? Or will they want to have buildings like this one repurposed into something more modern?
Sources:
One of the primary ways you can begin to investigate the value of your piano is by locating the serial number. The serial number is considered your piano's birth certificate, and it is the way the original manufacturer assigned it a unique.
However, locating it can be tricky. We provide our customers with the following real-life diagrams to quickly help them find the serial number on their grand or upright piano.
Grand serial numbers like on the Steinway pictured above may be found in many different places. The various places on the diagram point to some possible locations.
Typically, a serial number has 5 to 7 digits, but in some cases, it may have fewer or more and may also include a letter. This is a view of the grand with the lid open and the music desk removed. It may be necessary to clean dust off the harp or soundboard before the serial number can be seen.
Upright or vertical piano serial numbers can usually be found by lifting the lid and looking inside on the gold harp or plate. It is usually not necessary to remove the upper front panel to find the serial number (as in this picture).
By locating the serial number, you can begin your research to know the value of the piano. The first thing the serial number tells you is the age of the piano. Paired with the who made the piano, the age is a key piece of information, and many piano experts can begin to assign a value quickly after assessing the condition and a few other criteria.
Sometimes, however, a serial number can be nearly impossible to find, even to professionals who know where to look and have identified thousands of serial numbers in their years of expertise. If you are running into this problem, feel free to give us a call, and we'll be happy to work with you to locate your serial number.
Located in Downtown Detroit, the Grinnell Brothers Music Building is a standing memory of the rise and fall of a company. The brothers who started this retail store originally sold sewing machines door-to-door and then incorporated music merchandise into their first store in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It wasn't until the brothers had a successful piano manufacturing plant in Holly, Michigan, that the still recognizable store on 1519 Woodward Avenue was constructed.
Albert Kahn, a reputable architect who built numerous buildings and plants that were representative of the European Modernism architectural style, built the Grinnell Brothers Music Building in 1908. The building's neighbors consisted of the Fisher Arcade, Sanders, and a clothing department store. Grinnell was a respected company and eventually became the world's largest piano-distributor by the 1950s. Not long after in the 1960s, Grinnell had over 35 stores selling pianos in addition to other instruments. The company was at a high and bought the Sanders building located next door in 1963.
The Grinnell Brothers Music Building is a reminder of the company's history that is somewhat similar to the city it is located within. In 1967 after the Detroit Riots, the company lost much business due to people avoiding downtown. The company had periods of growth and decline afterwards, with different owners trying to salvage a company that had been around for almost 100 years. In 1981, the Grinnell was officially bankrupt, leaving the building on 1519 Woodward Avenue empty.
Right now the building is not in use, but is located in an area that is starting to be built up once again. It is interesting to note how similar one company is to the city of Detroit's history as a whole. The location of the main company headquarters seemed to be its downfall. Now we have to look at this building and see if it will follow Detroit's history once more, and be utilized into something new and revived. Not more than a mile away from the Grinnell Brothers Music Building a new sports complex will be built, bringing more supposed positive traffic to Downtown Detroit. Will this new construction bring people who want to see something historically significant? Or will they want to have buildings like this one repurposed into something more modern?
Sources:
One of the primary ways you can begin to investigate the value of your piano is by locating the serial number. The serial number is considered your piano's birth certificate, and it is the way the original manufacturer assigned it a unique.
However, locating it can be tricky. We provide our customers with the following real-life diagrams to quickly help them find the serial number on their grand or upright piano.
Grand serial numbers like on the Steinway pictured above may be found in many different places. The various places on the diagram point to some possible locations.
Typically, a serial number has 5 to 7 digits, but in some cases, it may have fewer or more and may also include a letter. This is a view of the grand with the lid open and the music desk removed. It may be necessary to clean dust off the harp or soundboard before the serial number can be seen.
Upright or vertical piano serial numbers can usually be found by lifting the lid and looking inside on the gold harp or plate. It is usually not necessary to remove the upper front panel to find the serial number (as in this picture).
By locating the serial number, you can begin your research to know the value of the piano. The first thing the serial number tells you is the age of the piano. Paired with the who made the piano, the age is a key piece of information, and many piano experts can begin to assign a value quickly after assessing the condition and a few other criteria.
Sometimes, however, a serial number can be nearly impossible to find, even to professionals who know where to look and have identified thousands of serial numbers in their years of expertise. If you are running into this problem, feel free to give us a call, and we'll be happy to work with you to locate your serial number.
Contact us today!
Original image sources:
Grand piano: https://www.amromusic.com/
Grinnell Brothers Piano Age
Upright piano: http://www.steinhovenpianos.com/
Grinnell Brothers Piano Serial Number Lookup
