Hallet Davis model HD185 Grand Piano
6′-1″ “Imperial Collection” Conservatory Grand Piano.
This graceful piano is elegantly adorned with beautiful spade legs and a modern-styled cabinet with clean crisp lines. The classic polished ebony polyester resin finish would make an excellent addition to any homes’ decor. Multiple coats were applied and after the required drying time, the cabinet was hand-buffed to a mirrored high-gloss sheen. This Hallet Davis model HD185 grand piano was skillfully crafted from the world’s finest materials. Hand selected hardwood and genuine wood veneers were incorporated to build this musical instruments’ cabinet. It features the finest 100% wool German hammer and damper felts, German steel strings and pure copper-wound bass strings, long-grained solid Sitka spruce soundboard and ribs, 17-ply hard rock maple delignit glue pinblock, White spruce and maple keyboard and action parts, hardwood rim and beams, wet sand cast plate (harp), solid brass pedals and a host of other quality materials and construction techniques. All woods were kiln dried to international standards so the piano can thrive in dry climates like ours. Using German scale and technical designs coupled with precision machinery, Hallet Davis has succeeded in developing a high-quality European-styled piano at an affordable price.
This piano came to us from northern New Mexico. It was serviced by Alexander Boggs, owner of 88 Keys Piano Warehouse. The piano had very little playing time so there is minimal wear in the action and other moving parts. We had to do very little to it in our restoration shop and it was in nearly sellable condition when we acquired it. The original bench is included and so is complimentary local, first-floor professional delivery.
Hallet Davis model HD185 Grand Piano. S# 40230 Mfg. 2012
88 Keys Piano Warehouse & Showroom price – $10,950.
At 6’-1” in length, it is larger than a baby or parlor grand piano. This is a conservatory grand that would meet the needs of most performance venues featuring live music and institutional settings like houses of worship and schools. The robust bass response from the longer string length and larger soundboard size and the warm, rich tonal quality and bell-like clarity would uplift nearly all musical genres. It could be suitable for a serious amateur pianist or a professional. These are durable, low-maintenance, well-built pianos and it ought to give decades of musical enrichment to the next owner.
Originally established in Boston in 1839, Hallet Davis & Co. is one of the oldest American names in piano manufacturing. Hallowed, staid and revered, the company has a rich history. They have received numerous competitive awards and medals at World’s Fairs and the greatest expositions world-wide. During the Paris Exhibition of 1867 Franz Liszt, the great pianist-composer, played on a Hallet Davis piano and enthusiastically endorsed it. So did Johann Strauss in Berlin, 1871. In 1911, His Holiness Pope Pius X selected a Hallet Davis for the Vatican and awarded its makers a gold medal. Mr. Hallet and Mr. Davis are long gone of course, so the company has had various ownerships. For most of the 20th century they were part of the Aeolian-American Piano Company empire. Fine old brands like Chickering, Mason & Hamlin and others were built by them also. Shortly after Aeolian’s demise in 1985, North American Music in New York acquired the rights to build the piano and the Galanti family have been wonderful stewards of this renowned old American brand. The instruments are currently built to the highest standards and integrity by highly rated, modern factories in China.
