1939 Original Story & Clark "Storytone" Electric Piano and Bench

Description: A rare and historically important instrument, the RCA Storytone piano was built in 1939 in a joint venture between Story & Clark and RCA. The first American electric piano, it debuted at the 1939 World's Fair. It has an art deco/streamline design that rivals that of the finest furniture of the era. The piano has normal strings and action but no soundboard -- this Storytone has electromagnetic pickups and a speaker system. When amplified, it works especially well for sustained styles of playing, and sounds much more like a real piano than a Rhodes, Wurlitzer or Helpinstill, and fuller and thicker than a Yamaha CP-70 or Kawai EP-308. However, this particular Storytone is missing its amp/PSU. Also, please note that since these pictures were taken, the badge and the two metal rings around the knobs (on the right and left cheek blocks) have been removed from the piano for use on a Storytone that has been restored; the badge and rings are available for an additional $1000, which would cover the cost of making the replica badge/rings. This Storytone piano comes with an original "standard" Storytone bench (NOT the one shown in the pictures with the piano; it's the one in the other five pictures).We have another Storytone piano available for a few hundred dollars more, and it has its original tube amp and power supply, and the electronics on that one are restored and fully functional. However, the back board cover on that other Storytone is ripped off (cosmetic damage only, no functional effect on the instrument, most people place the back of the piano against the wall anyway). We have it in a separate Reverb listing. We are open to "mixing and matching" certain parts between the two pianos. For example, if you want this piano because it has the bench and the back board is intact, but you want the amp/PSU from the other piano, the amp/PSU would be $1500 extra (but you would have to do the installation of the amp/PSU). Or if you want the the other piano (because it has the amp/PSU) but you want the original bench, the bench would be $1000 extra. Please note that the shipping cost in this listing is an average/estimate and that the actual shipping cost to the buyer will vary based on the buyer's location, and buyer will pay the actual shipping cost. For instance, moving this to the east coast would cost $750-950, while moving this within the Los Angeles metro area would cost $150-250

Price: 1400 USD

Location: Venice, California

End Time: 2024-09-29T00:06:55.000Z

Shipping Cost: 495 USD