American Made Pianos

An Outstanding Manufacturing Tradition

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Cable-Nelson

Factory Location: South Haven, Michigan
Serial Number Dates: 1903 - ?

History:

The Cable-Nelson Piano Company was established in 1903 began in Chicago, Illinois. The original name of the company was Fayett S. Cable. The addition of "Nelson" to the name was due to a merger in 1905. The pianos were actually made by the Everett Piano Company. The company changed owners several times -- Hammond Organ Company, Meridan Company, and then purchased by Yamaha.

 

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.