Ampico Symphonique Reproducing Grand Piano

The AMPICO (American Piano Company) firm built some of the best pianos from the golden age of American piano building under such well known brand names as Chickering, Knabe and Mason & Hamlin.This Ampico Symphonique instrument contains the originally installed ‘reproducing’ player action (most have been removed and discarded when player pianos went out of fashion) and rarer still is that this action is the full model B type rather than the more common ampico A or A/B hybrid. Rescued from an estate sale in New York in an unplayable but complete state, this instrument is now being restored to like new condition. This 5’ grand is small enough to fit comfortably where limited space is an issue yet can faithfully reproduce the performances made by composers such as Rachmaninoff, Debussy and Gershwin or performing artists such as Frank Milne playing songs by Irving Berlin. To be able to sit in your own living room and have Rachmaninoff himself perform for you is truly a surreal experience!

Worth noting is that the Ampico pneumatic player action is regarded by many as one of the very best reproducing player systems ever created. Named ‘reproducing’ because the roll recordings faithfully reproduced the performance of the artist including the dynamic expression and nuance of every key played. The Ampico model A system was first invented by Charles Fuller Stoddard in 1911 to overcome the single dynamic, lack of expression found in other systems of the day. It was a remarkable creation and an instant success. In 1924 Stoddard joined forces with Dr. Clarence Hickman (a renowned scientific methodology expert) to invent what we now refer to as the ampico model B. This was a complete redesign to improve even further note nuance expression and a larger spool box mechanism to be able to play longer playing rolls up to 30 minutes. In 1925 many model A instruments began to included a number of changes that included some model B technology. By late 1929 the American Piano Company switched to the completely redesigned full model B system which is installed in this Ampico Symphonique piano. Much rarer than its model A predecessor due to the stock market crash of the 1930’s, the ampico model B still remains as arguably the best artist reproducing pneumatic player system ever designed!

A matching antique piano bench is included.