In 1869, Weber opened a large, luxurious showroom on 108 Fifth Avenue and 16th street in New York City. Between 18, Weber's pianos became popular in New York music circles. By 1864 Weber had achieved some success with the then-popular " square grand piano", and opened a larger factory nearby at 41 Wooster Street in Manhattan, and later expanded that facility several times. Ī fire destroyed Weber's Broadway workshop in 1854, but Weber stayed in the Manhattan area, moving to 103rd & 105 W. In 1852, Weber moved to a larger facility at 103 W. On October 1, 1851, Weber completed his first piano, working with two assistants, and by the beginning of 1852, they had completed five additional pianos.
In 1851, he set up a small piano business on West Broadway and White Street, in Manhattan. During this time, Weber supplemented his income by giving music lessons in the evenings, and by playing the organ in churches on Sundays. Holder, a piano builder, and then as a piano builder by the D.J. Weber emigrated to the United States at the age of 16, and while his first intent was to support himself by teaching music and playing the organ, he soon was employed first as an apprentice of Charles J. The Weber Piano Company was founded in 1852 by Albert Weber (born: July 8, 1829, Heiligenstadt, Bavaria died: June 25, 1879, New York). (1828–1879), pianist and founder of Weber Piano Co., New York (date unknown). Information - Concerts, News,FAQs, Archives. Organs - Electronic (B3 etc.), Pipe, Theatre.
Who's Who - Professional Pianists on Piano World Member Recordings - Non Classical Pianist CornerĮVENTS! Piano Concerts, Recitals, Competitions.įun Stuff! - Parties, Tours, Projects & More.įorum Members Parties, Tours, Cruises, & M. MY NEW PIANO or KEYBOARD! - Share Your Story! I also ALWAYS recommend against it and I'm glad that Rich does the same.īut sometimes reason can't win over the emotion of keeping "grandma's piano" in the family and out of the dumpster.ĭigital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths &a. We also restored pianos like these for people because of sentimental reasons, and although I wouldn't call the results wonderful, they can turn out to be surprisingly good.
If it was a patch up job.well, the dumpster fee is still $65.Īnd after all that.Rich is right.
When it's time to sell, the piano will bring maybe 10%-20% of the amount "invested" in the restoration (adjusted to inflation), and that's the good scenario. Take that same amount of money and you could get a better new, or used (up to 20 years old) piano of a much higher quality (if you shop carefully and check all the options).Īlso, "investing" the money in restoring these pianos is akin to taking $100 bills and flushing them down the toilet.
Now yes, it's true that sometimes (rarely) people do restore pianos like these for SENTIMENTAL reasons, and some of the pianos restored can be fairly nice.but not for the amount spent. When doing so, it's just another version of "the money pit" and the results can be grim since the piano players (especially if they are young beginners) get discouraged and stop playing the piano. We both know that pianos like this don't justify the investment needed for REAL restoration and usually( as in 99% of the time) get a "patch up job". The pianos may perform.but to what level?