22/11/2025
Today I was tuning a Knight upright (very bright tone and took the tuning well). The other one was a Dale Forty from the 1920s. Nice logo, redolent of the era. It had not been tuned for quite a few years and was very ragged to say the least.
Dale, Forty & Co. Ltd. Fine Pianos was founded in 1873 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, partners Henry Dale and Frank Forty, formerly piano tuners with the Broadwood company purchased the established music house of Finlayson. The newly named Dale, Forty & Co. also acquired Hale & Co. music publishers by appointment to the Queen. Their magnificent music warehouse dominated the town’s famous Regency Promenade. Situated opposite Neptune’s Fountain, Dale, Forty sold absolutely everything to do with music, instruments, gramophones and later, radio. The Dale, Forty piano workshops imported all major marques of piano, repaired and reconditioned customers’ instruments and by the late 1900s manufactured a range of uprights and small grands, many of which are still in service today. By the early 20th Century, Dale, Forty had upwards of sixty shops throughout the Midlands and Wales, a tuning and repair service covering more than half of the country, together with a showroom and offices in Great Portland Street, London. Brand ownership is still in Cheltenham to this day.
