Daniel Walker
active past 1830; patented 1838; firm dissolved 1841
Biography
Daniel Walker was a partner, with William Geib, in Geib & Walker, 23 Maiden Lane, New York, piano manufacturers, music publishers, and instrument importers well known past 1830. On June 19, 1838, Walker patented a pianoforte wrest-pin that tightened strings by a screw method resembling the tightening of hair in a violin bow, an idea introduced into Geib & Walker's instruments and exhibited at the Mechanics' Institute in 1838 to favorable notice. Along with a similarly unsuccessful scheme by Fissore, Walker's mechanical screw tuning-pin ultimately failed to catch on, though Spillane notes a continuing belief in such mechanical tuning methods. Geib & Walker dissolved in 1841; Walker subsequently opened a business at 441 Broadway, later reorganized as Walker & Company before the name eventually dropped out of the trade.
Highlights
- Patented a pianoforte wrest-pin on June 19, 1838, using a screw method to tighten strings.
- Exhibited the new tuning method at the Mechanics' Institute in 1838.
- After Geib & Walker dissolved in 1841, opened at 441 Broadway and later led Walker & Company.
Source
Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 160, 161.
Public domain.