John Brinsmead and Sons Piano

[kje.davis]

Hello all,

I am a new member to this board and was looking for a bit of advice. I am not looking for a monetary valuation, rather advice on a potential investment. We've had an old upright Brinsmead piano sitting in our junk room for many years, and it was given to me by my aunt. I have no idea of value or age, but have recently found the same number carved into the piano in four places-55242. This I assume to be a serial number or something similar, it is on both front panels, a piece of internal woodwork and the side of a piece of edging. It's fairly scruffy, a few chipped keys and looks like a flower pot has overflowed on the top.

When I was learning to play, my teacher told me I had to have a piano that was tuned to concert pitch and was 'overstrung'. According to the piano tuner (about 10 years ago) the old Brinsmead did not fit the bill, so we bought a second piano from a friend- a Kessels. The only information I can find on the piano is a name and address: Dobson-Hopper Ltd, 438 Coventry Road, Birmingham. It may not be 'Hopper' its in a very gothic font and difficult to make out. This is on the far right hand side of the keyboard.

We now only want one piano, but are unsure which to keep. The Brinsmead sounds better, and has a bit of family history to it, but the Kessler can be tuned to concert pitch and doesn't need restoring.

So essentially my question is this: is the old Brinsmead worth restoring? Considering it might cost a bit and we know nothing about pianos to contest an enormous bill. Or should we just keep the Kessels because the Brinsmead is not worth the money it would cost to restore it.

I would be grateful for any advice,
~Kathryn

[Bill Kibby]

There are lots of old pianos giving good service that are not overstrung, and some are not at concert pitch, although this can be a nuisance to some people. The number suggests that your piano was made in 1905, so it will be suffering from old age in some ways. We cannot answer questions about its condition or value from here, you need to have a tuner on the spot. It may be possible to raise the pitch.

I will try to look up the Dobson firm, but they do not seem to appear in Birmingham lists at that time, so they may have sold the piano secondhand at a later date. Have a look at
http://pianogen.org/edwardian.html