Imperial Organ & Piano Ltd. London

[bj1951]

I have an Imperial Organ & Piano upright. The SN#11521 stamped into the pinblock, 85 keys, two pedals, Herrburger Brooks ltd. action, and is now in 430 pitch. Until now, untouched for past 30 years. No strings broken, no rust, overall solid original condition. Straight strung, full plate, fully intact soundboard. Have not found another one anywhere. Are there any left? I would welcome any and all info on dates and manufacture of this piano. Thank you, my first post to site.

[Bill Kibby]

I did answer an enquiry about this piano some time ago, from Phoenix. No dates of serial numbers are available, but I have heard of quite a few examples over the years.
The company name did not mention organs until about 1898.
They were in business in 1899, and still around in 1961, but the Herrburger Brooks action tells us that the piano was made after 1919.
Not armed with that information, I estimated your piano at 1917.

[bj1951]

Thank you for the input. Since my last post I have removed and lubed the action, inspected the soundboard and plate, cleaned all internals, and treated the pinblock with pin tightener. I have slowly brought pitch up to A-435 over several rough tunings (many strings two full notes flat after over 30 years). No strings were broken during the tunings, there was very little rust present, and all stress points were lubed. The piano is now holding tune and sounds nice. Regulating will be my next project.

[bj1951]

Just an update on my Imperial upright, still holding pitch, no loose pins. two granddaughters have put away their electronic keyboards. The sound is wonderful!