Knight piano?

[Tom65]

Hi, we have recently bought an old upright piano for our young daughter to learn the basics on. It is marked as Knight on the outside of the case, but has no plate inside. The only number is stamped on the top right inside, and is 1025, but this doesn’t seem to bear any relation to any Knight serial numbers list I can find. The mechanism is labelled with British Piano Actions Ltd. The piano is small - width around 134cm, height 102cm. The style nods in the direction of Art Deco, and is in mahogany (?). It has 85 keys and 2 pedals. I understood from a bit of reading that Knight pianos have castors which protrude at the rear, but this doesn’t. Any help on model/age would be much appreciated. Thanks. Tom.

[Bill Kibby]

Most British pianos have 85 notes and 2 pedals. My Numbers page
http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html
explains that dating pianos purely on the basis of numbers is often not as simple as it seems. There are some Knight dates near the bottom of that page. FInding just one number does not guarantee that it is the serial number, most piano have several numbers inside. Serial numbers are usually 5 or 6 digits. Nobody can tell you anything about an individual piano just by the name, are you able to post photos here to show what the whole piano looks like, or email them to me to post? Knight pianos are usually dated inside, so have a look at
http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html
The back toes you refer are usually added extras to make a piano more stable when it has to be moved a lot, by extending the castors further out, because upright pianos are all back-heavy. They are certainly not standard on Knight pianos.

[Tom65]

Some photos. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Bill Kibby]

This picture was sent to me years ago, said to be 1930s. When you uncovered the keys, did you have a look at
http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html

I don't believe this is the serial number, it is not where I expect to find it, and it doesn't seem a suitable range either. Have you looked on the back? The keys are your best bet though.

[Tom65]

Thanks for the advice.

I have found some more info. Stamped on both the bottom two keys is the number 758 (no full stops, ie not 7.58, just 758).

I have also found moulded into the iron frame, ‘K4’. I am assuming this is the model number, and this does seem to be the case as the few pictures that come up if you search for this on google, look identical.

Stamped into the bottom of the large renoveable wooden board at the front of the piano, is ‘T 82’.

Is any of that any help?

Thanks again

[Bill Kibby]

The link I sent you explains that numbers on keys are hardly ever helpful. K4 is the model, I have no idea about T 82.

If there is no marking on the sides of the bottom keys, or underneath them, I have no other suggestions.

Does anyone out there know where we could find the serial number?