The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I recently came across these two items. One is a large barrel piano and the other one is a Peerless keyless player piano model 44. Does anyone know an approximate value of either one? The barrel piano is marked with Barcelona on one of the medalions. We took the panels off to get pictures of the insides. It plays alright but is way out of tune. There are also five bells it plays to the left of the piano hammers. The Peerless player looks to be in great condition but the guy said that he has many of the parts for it in a box. I would think it would be a risk to know if all the parts are there. These are very neat and if the challenge isn't too great I just might have to bring them home.

Very nice!

I still have the remains of a barrel piano mouldering away in my basement (never got around to restoring it, alas).

It had a curious pressure-pneumatic action, and bore a plaque from a dealer(?) named V. Navas, with addresses in Madrid and Barcelona...

Bill

The barrel piano is like the one that's at the antique center in my town.edisonplayer

A friend of mine, who knows more about pianos than I ever will, explained to me that wood framed pianos, such as the barrel player you show here, are notoriously hard to tune and do not hold their tune very well either. There's also the fact that most wood frame pianos have some degree of rot in the frames, near the floor, where they pick up moisture. Unless it has a cast iron frame it will be trouble.

Thanks for the replies. I am hearing the same warnings from some collector friends of mine regarding the barrel piano. The Peerless seems to be much more interesting. I will have to take a closer look when I am in the area again.

The Peerless 44 is a scarce machine. We will be auctioning off one here in Central Illinois in June. I have read that there are only about 10 of these still in existence.