American Made Pianos

An Outstanding Manufacturing Tradition

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Kohler & Campbell

Factory Location: New York, New York
Serial Number Dates: 1900 - 1983 (?)

History:

The Kohler & Campbell company was established in 1896. The Kohler & Campbell grand piano also goes under the name, "Brambach." Other names associated with Kohler & Campbell are: Amplitheme, Amplitone, Art-Electric, Artist Record, Artistyle, Arto, Autopiano, Astor, Autokrat, Autopiano Playerette, Autotheme, Frances Bacon, Bennet, J. C. Campbell, Carter, Celeste, Conreid, Behning, Behr Brothers, Bjur Brothers, Davenport-Tracy, Design, Electra, Gordon, Hazelton Brothers, Ideal, Kohler, Kroger, McPhail, Milton, Jeffersonian, Charles Kohler, Pianista, Preston, Ministrelo, Mono Player, Newton, Peter Pan, Stephen Foster, Playerette, Simplex, Solist, Solostyle, Stratford, Stulz & Bauer, Symphonia, Symphotone, Tom Thumb, Triumph and Waldorf.

 

Information source: Pierce Piano Atlas

The Resonance of a Continent: The American Piano Tradition

The American piano manufacturing tradition is a story of unparalleled craftsmanship meeting the boundless natural resources of a new world. At its heart lies the selection of materials—most notably the vast, old-growth spruce forests of the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast. These superior stands of Sitka and Adirondack spruce provided the tight-grained, resonant timber essential for crafting the world’s finest soundboards, offering a tonal depth and "singing" quality that European makers envied. Combined with a relentless spirit of industrial innovation, American makers refined the overstrung scale and the heavy cast-iron plate, creating instruments of such structural integrity and powerful projection that they redefined the modern piano.