John Geib, Sr.

Biography

John Geib, Sr., a German by family origin, was one of the 'twelve apostles' who emigrated from Germany to England around 1760 and founded the piano-making trade there, a group through whom English makers such as Broadwood and Stodart acquired their knowledge of piano construction. In London he invented the grasshopper action and the 'buff stop' for square pianos, both patented on November 9, 1786. He was the father of John Geib, the practical pianoforte-maker, and Adam Geib, the teacher, who together carried on the family's piano and organ business in New York as John Geib & Son and, later, John & Adam Geib, pianoforte-makers.

Highlights

• Invented the grasshopper action and the 'buff stop' for square pianos, patented November 9, 1786, in London.
• One of the 'twelve apostles' who emigrated from Germany to England in 1760 and founded the piano business there; through these men Broadwood, Stodart, and other makers acquired their knowledge of piano making.
• Father of John Geib, the pianoforte-maker, and Adam Geib, who carried the family's piano-making business to New York.

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 105.

Public domain.