In 1923, Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London, was asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in
The Soundboard of the Piano From an article by Dr. William Braid White, Principle of the School of Pianoforte Technology, Chicago, Ill., reprinted with permission from the Piano Trade Magazine, Chicago, Ill. In the piano the function of the soundboard is to take up and repeat the vibratory motions of the strings, and thus to
By Paul Hahn & Co. ltd. Toronto, Ontario PART ONE – Project Overview This 86 year-old beauty is an awesome example of both the craftsmanship of the old New York Steinway factory, and the brilliance of German mechanical engineering. It is a player piano. A pneumatic marvel that translates a roll of paper, punched
Part of Paul Hahn & Co.’s proud 106 year history, Nordheimer pianos have been part of our inventory of fine pianos from the very beginning. Paul Hahn Sr. worked for A&S Nordheimer before opening his own store. Considered by many technicians to be the finest pianos ever produced in Canada
A letter from Henry Z. Steinway to Alex Hahn upon learning of Paul Hahn Jr.’s passing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Z._Steinway
A rare and historically important instrument, the RCA Storytone piano was built in 1939 in a joint venture between Story & Clark and RCA. The case was designed by John Vassos, the famous American industrial designer. This piano is one of only 500 made. It is the world’s first electric piano and debuted at the
In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where, on July 24, he planted a 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words “Long Live the King of France” and took possession of the territory New France in the name of King Francis I. In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I, founded St. John’s, Newfoundland, as the first North
“Castors: The wheels. Not actually designed for wheeling. In most old pianos, they are designed to chew up hardwood floors… If you are lucky enough to not have to worry about the neighbors, and live in a home where the piano can be in a relatively large room, It will sound best if the room
Leonard “Chico” Marx (March 22, 1887 – October 11, 1961) was an inspiration to a generation of would-be piano players. Entirely self-taught, Chico thrilled audiences with his inventive interpretations and wacky off-the-wall technique. If you take a close look at his playing, you might recognize that musically speaking, it’s actually fairly simple – a two
We get this call far too often. At Paul Hahn & Co., we love pianos, and we love our customers. We do not buy instruments that cannot be ethically re-sold. If you have an old piano that you want to ‘get rid of’, We are not likely to be interested. There are exceptions to
A Heintzman piano is a musical time capsule. Most people see the piano simply as a piece of musical furniture, something for their kids to learn on, or for other people to master. Many people think of a piano as something to play as a form of recreation, or perhaps a skill that they
When I was little, I would wake up every Sunday morning to the sound of my mother dusting the piano. Of course, she was dusting everything, (being my mom), but nothing else in the house made that familiar badum, badum, badum sound of her cleaning the keys. You might say that cleaning runs in the family:
(Or: What to know before the delivery.) Before your piano is delivered, plan its placement very carefully. Think of a piano as being part of the family. Pick a room where it will be in the center of the action. You will want it to be part of celebrations, and most of all, you will
You press a key, and a note sounds. In a nutshell, here’s how an upright works: Pressing the key down lifts the back of the key up. This raises the whippen, forcing the jack to tilt the hammer mechanism toward the string. Halfway toward the string, a spoon on the back of the whippen lifts
5. Piano Strings are steel wires under a tremendous amount of pressure, and they stretch. The piano has 88 notes, but many of the notes have more than one string. In fact, an average piano has approx. 240 strings. All these strings add up to around 10 or more tons of pressure. (That’s enough to
A bench top that had been in use at the store for over 100 years for regulating actions was finally deemed too pitted and worn to do the job we needed. It’s history actually predates Paul Hahn & Co. Before Paul Hahn Sr. opened this store in 1913, he worked as a the Head Salesman
Paul Hahn Jr died in 2008, but we are still hearing and telling stories about him. He was a bon-vivant, and loved an adventure. After his death, I started to go through some of his letters and photos. There were legal documents, personal letters, pictures of the store, and then this. In 1968, Paul Hahn