# Need help identifying a piano manufacturer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-piano-manufacturer/584030 "2011-06-02T01:30:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-piano-manufacturer/584030/1 "2011-06-02T01:30:57Z")
I know this is a long shot. A friend is considering buying an old German (?) upright in excellent condition. The only identifying mark he remembers is a sort of logo: a ‘K’ with some type of circle above it. Any have any ideas as to the maker? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-piano-manufacturer/584030/2 "2011-06-02T01:38:30Z")
Could it be a [Knabe](http://www.knabepianos.com/)? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-piano-manufacturer/584030/3 "2011-06-02T01:42:18Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Could it be a [Knabe](http://www.knabepianos.com/)? Thanks, but I don’t see anything on the site resembling a K with a circle about it. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-piano-manufacturer/584030/4 "2011-06-02T01:53:21Z")
Sorry, ‘about’ it or ‘above’ it? I immediately thought of that little shield in a circle on the Knabe website… No matter - the big clues are going to be on the inside, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-piano-manufacturer/584030/5 "2011-06-02T02:05:00Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Sorry, ‘about’ it or ‘above’ it? I immediately thought of that little shield in a circle on the Knabe website… > > No matter - the big clues are going to be on the inside, anyway. Above it. And the Knabe logo actually spells out ‘Knabe’ in the circle; he says it is just a K. mmm ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-piano-manufacturer/584030/6 "2011-06-02T02:50:57Z")
Wow! De Ja Vue all over again. A [Recent Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=607108&highlight=piano) about piano manufacturers. **TreacherousCretin** , in that thread, allows as how he is a retired piano guy and has an atlas that lists most all piano manufactures. Don’t know if that’s a help. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-identifying-a-piano-manufacturer/584030/7 "2011-06-02T06:32:46Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Wow! De Ja Vue all over again. A [Recent Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=607108&highlight=piano) about piano manufacturers. > > **TreacherousCretin** , in that thread, allows as how he is a retired piano guy and has an atlas that lists most all piano manufactures. Don’t know if that’s a help. Nope. Off the top of my head I don’t recognize the logo as described. In any case, I strongly recommend that the OP’s friend have the piano examined by a professional Piano Technician, preferably a member of the Piano Technicians Guild, who can provide an expert’s objective evaluation of that specific instrument’s inherent quality, and (more importantly) its current condition inside and out. Edit: also, Knabe isn’t a German piano.