Testimonial from Dave in Ohio 10/20/09

"James, Thank you for all your good work and beautiful coasters.  The piano is here and your two level coasters work"  This pertained to the set of custom Brazilian Cherry caster cups.

From another, "  Your caster cups are more than just caster cups, they are beautiful, small pieces of furniture."

For those of you who would like a pictorial essay on how a set of custom caster cups are produced, send me a requesting email, and I will forward trhe essay to you.

The  Hardwood Piano Caster Cups supply of James Grebe is probably the most diverse in the world in species of wood and sizes.  Since the early 1990's, I have made and sold caster cups to dozens of people from California to Florida and New York to Louisiana

I now accept PayPal.

 Have you ever thought about the weight of your piano, and how the entire weight is touching your floor or carpet on 3 small places on the bottom of a hard steel or brass caster with an area about the size of one thumbprint at each termination? Consider a Steinway Grand piano in a medium size (5’8”) . The piano weighs 560 pounds. Think of all that weight on 3 small areas on the bottom of a steel or brass caster pushing on your floor.

Now picture that same amount of weight supported by my Hardwood Piano Caster Cups with a diameter of 5.5” each. That reduces the force pressuring your floor by 87% less, Think of how much easier that is on your floor or floor covering. The Hardwood Piano Caster cup is flat on the bottom and has a fine felt covering, further protecting your floor. In addition to protecting your floor my piano caster cups  have another advantage in the due to  the vibration of the instrument is causing the entire case to vibrate and the vibrations are terminating in the hard wood of the caster cup and  the vibration is sent back up the legs and finally back to the soundboard enhancing the volume and tone of your piano. The volume of the piano comes from the vibrating soundboard and the more it vibrates, the better tone the piano will have.

Another side benefit is that the floor to pedal distance is restored, giving you free, unchecked pedal depressing distance so the pedals are easier to manipulate.

In addition to caster cups for grand pianos I also configure them for vertical styled pianos. They are of the same quality of wood but made around 4.5” in diameter to be in scale with the smaller size of the piano and its casters. I make them in sets of 2 which would go under the front legs , if pedal height is the goal or in sets of 4 to protect the floor from the 4 casters. Since the casters are smaller on a vertical piano than a grand piano the crushing problem is even worse on the unprotected floor.

 In addition to caster cups for pianos, I can also make them for your fine pieces of furniture.  Most furniture legs have the end grain on the bottom of the leg and will very readily scratch your floor.  At best, they have metal dome glides which can gouge a nice floor.  Since my caster cups for furniture are felted on their entire bottom, no danger of scratching any more.  I can make the caster cups out of whatever kind of wood you prefer and can come close to a colour of your choice.  Since all my caster cups are custom made the sky is almost the limit on what we can come up with together.  Write me  with a description of what you have in mind and I will return a price quote.

Shoddy imitations of caster cups

Many new pianos come with plastic caster cups and are usually given free or at very low cost. Before you use the plastic variety, take a moment to examine it. First, they are plastic, (yuck) on an instrument worth thousands of dollars. Secondly, look at the bottom of the cup. You will notice that it is not solid and flat but hollow and ribbed. The advantage of a 5.5” plastic caster cup is almost non-existent. It is not touching the floor save for about 3 very thin ridges of the plastic. The plastic variety is truly all show - no go. I have also seen the plastic variety simply break with the weight of the piano.

Available Woods

My Hardwood Piano Caster Cups can be handcrafted in all the normal hardwoods such as real walnut, mahogany, cherry, oak. In addition, I can make them out of the exotics for a striking beautiful look from woods like real rosewood,  coco bolo, zebra wood, kawazinga bubinga, Brazilian cherry and others.   A further choice is the choice of flat, satin, or high gloss finish on the HHCC's.

Since HHCC’s (piano caster cups) are made one set at a time I can conform the inner and outer cups to whatever size your casters are, from the normal width to the extra wide casters on some new grand pianos.

Accept nothing but the finest for your piano, which is probably the single most expensive piece of furniture in your home. Please remember that all of my Caster Cups are made in Arnold, MO.