Antique Musical Instruments/Type of Piano

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Question
The church I attended today has a type of piano I have never seen before.  It is a Story and Clark (year unknown).  It is not as tall as an upright and not as short as a standard piano but somewhere inbetween.  Above the keyboard, it has what appears to be white organ stops, but when the piano is plugged in, it does not seem to change the way the piano plays.  It plays just like any other piano would (except many of the keys stick and some keys don't even make any noise when struck, which I assume the pads on the hammers are bad).  There is a switch on the front left lower panel by your legs.  The switch flips to the left or right but only seems to turn the tiny light on (a power indicator I assume) beside the switch when it is plugged up.  Do you have any idea what kind of piano this is and what the organ stops are for.  The man that tuned the piano said he had no idea what they were for since they seemed to do nothing but I'm sure they did at one time.

Answer
Hi,



Thank you for using allexperts.

This type of piano based from what you told me is likely a spinet piano. I am not sure what the organ stops are for or why they were used, I have never heard or seen them in a piano before. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Lindeblad Piano

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Antique Musical Instruments

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Todd Lindeblad

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How to find out the year a piano was built. How to locate the serial number on a piano. What is the value of a piano. Is a vintage piano worth restoring. What work is needed to be done to fix a piano. Additional information, diagrams, and restoration tours on pianos can be found at: http://www.lindebladpiano.com/piano_info.htm.

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Fourth generation piano restorer. Since 1920 my family has specialized in the restoration and sale of vintage pianos. My only occupation has been restoring and selling pianos.

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Fourth generation piano restorer.

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