Our AMPICO

Our Knabe AMPICO

A wonderful 1926 Knabe Ampico Reproducing Piano

When searching for an AMPICO grand piano to purchase, I was fortunate to find a piano that was in excellent condition and almost entirely original.  It had been purchased in 1927 from Thearle Music Company in San Diego by Mr. Charles Martin, the then president of San Diego Trust and Savings Bank.  I purchased the piano in September 2006 from the original owner’s great-granddaughter.  She didn't want to part with it, but she simply didn’t have room for it anymore.

The piano is serial number 101807 (manufactured in late 1926) and being a relatively late model Ampico A, it includes most all of the improvements that were made to the “A” model before production of the Ampico “B” began in 1929.

The piano was delivered into our home in late September 2006.  

  The piano being setup by the piano movers (money well spent).

I don't think the belly cloth had been off in decades.

When I received the piano there were a number of minor problems that kept it from playing music rolls at all, but those problems were resolved within the first couple of days.  Though rarely seen these days, the pump drive belt was still leather.  The belt had broken and was laying inside the belly cloth – it was replaced.  The power cord was also replaced because the insulation on the cord was so badly cracked that it was too dangerous to plug in (bare wire was showing in numerous places). 

At that point, a good friend of mine who is quite knowledgeable about the Ampico provided some assistance and after just a couple of hours spent fixing a few simple leaks and making a few adjustments we had the piano playing rolls reasonably well.  The pump pressure is low and the Ampico mechanism is in need of a complete rebuild, but as is typical for pneumatic machines that have sat unused, the more it was played the better it performed.  Because of the low pump pressure, the expression is not working optimally, but the piano still amazes nearly all who hear it.  We play rolls on the piano at least 15 to 30 minutes a week.  I am not rushing into the rebuild process because I want to make sure that when it is rebuilt, it's done right. 

 The AMPICO drawer before giving it a good cleaning

The general condition of the piano was excellent given its age.  No veneer is missing and there are only a couple of small areas on one of the legs where the veneer is loose.  The soundboard is in great condition with no cracks and it still has good crown.  The pin block is generally good although there are about a dozen tuning pins that are a little loose (they still hold tune though).  There are a number of small cracks in the bridge, but nothing serious and all bridge pins are still tight.  The ivories are all original and are in absolutely amazing condition.

Some minor action regulation has been performed and the piano plays well manually.  It's played nearly every day by my son or oldest daughter in addition to the time it spends playing rolls.  The piano had not been tuned in years when I purchased it.  During the first six months after purchasing the piano it was tuned 4 times, including a pitch raise.  It is now in tune at concert pitch and is holding tune well.

 The harp was dusty and the strings somewhat corroded, but the soundboard

has no cracks and still has good crown.

  The ivories are original and in excellent condition

 The piano during its first week in its new home

A Historical Note

After learning that our piano had originally been purchased from Thearle Music Company in 1927, I did a little research on the music store and found a couple of interesting pieces of information.  While searching the internet, I found a fun picture taken in fround of Thearle Music around the same time that my piano was purchased there.  The picture, which was contributed to the Online Archive of California (OAC) by the San Diego Historical Society, was taken in 1926 and shows a children’s band in front of Thearle Music.  In the 1926 picture, if you look carefully in the window just above the head of the boy furthest left in the picture, you can see a sign advertising that Thearle Music Co. is an AMPICO authorized dealer.  Mr. Charles Martin, the original owner of my piano, probably walked past that sign the day he purchased the piano and each time he purchased new music rolls.

Also interesting (but unrelated to the AMPICO) is the fact that Thearle Music Company was the home of one of the earliest broadcast radio stations in the United States.  In January 1922, there were only 30 licensed broadcast stations in the entire United States.  Station KYF began broadcasting from Thearle Music Company that same year.

Last Updated: 24 Jan 2008