Kemble London piano

squiz · Post by **squiz** » 16 May 2014, 04:33

i have just been given a old Kemble upright piano as my old keyboard died and I am curious to how old it is, it says "Kemble London" under the lid and the serial number is 14800, I've looked and looked in hope to find it but everywhere i have looked starts the serial numbers from 1930 being 32100, so I am guessing mine is older but I can't for the life of me find it anywhere, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 16 May 2014, 09:21

That should be about 1922, but no precise dates are available for this number, although it is after 1921. If you ever have to remove or replace the cloth on the back of the piano, you may find a paper label near the top which gives the date. I would be interested to know what it is.

squiz · Post by **squiz** » 16 May 2014, 10:11

on the rear side of the piano it has two boards of wood panel at the top ant the rest is kind of like fly screen in a frame with at brass lifting handle at either end, where would i find the paper with a date on it? would it be ok to take the board off with out damaging it?

squiz · Post by **squiz** » 16 May 2014, 10:18

92 years old nice, i eventually want to get the oudside touched up proffesionally, the hammer felts look like they have been replaced at some point then if its that old or it was rarely played, i know it started life in england and the family shipped it to new zealand and now its in australia so its well travelled lol

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 16 May 2014, 18:45

With Kemble there's often a paper label under the end key at the LH end of the piano which has a date on.

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 16 May 2014, 18:50

The "flyscreen" may be a wire mesh, although cloth is more usual, held in place by a simple wooden frame. To see if there is a label, you would have to unscrew it, and the label will be near the top.

There is an illustration about a third of the way down the page at
http://pianohistory.info/genealogy.html

squiz · Post by **squiz** » 17 May 2014, 02:01

ok ive had all the keys out of it to be able to clean all the dirt and grime out its collected over the years and there was no paper label anywhere to be found, so my next thing will be to clean the rear side out and have a look for a label there.

squiz · Post by **squiz** » 17 May 2014, 02:05

that illistration is a great help bill, thankyou, i know where to look now

UK Piano Page Piano Forum