Barratt & Robinson

[KBA]

I have a Barratt & Robinson minstrelle upright. My parents bought it second hand in the mid 1970s, and were under the impression that it was only a few years old then. My tuner (blind) thought it dates from the 1950s. The serial number (12308) search dates it at 1921-1925! It doesn't look to me like a 1920s piano - is the serial number dating infallible?

[Bill Kibby]

"Infallible" is not a word I would ever apply to dating pianos by numbers. Have a look at
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/piano ... mbers.html
and you'll see why. B&R certainly did make a Minstrelle in the twenties, a very crudely-shaped little thing. Around 1969, they introduced a Minstrelle without a fall (keyboard lid). See also
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/datem ... ianos.html

[KBA]

Thanks for the reply and the interesting info. My Minstrelle has a bi-fold lid that forms the top of the piano and covers the keyboard when down. The lid is lifted and folded back behind the keyboard to provide a music stand across the width of the instrument. Is this one of the post-1969 no-fall ones (which would fit with what I thought)?

[Bill Kibby]

Sorry, I can't answer that, but the 1969 version was distinctly neat, small and modern, whereas the twenties one was small and hideous! I didn't now they added a fall to it, but perhaps that was after I left retailing in 1970.