John Spencer

[BiGHoRN]

Hello.

I've just acquired an Upright Piano, made by John Spencer of London. It also has the name John G Murdoch & Co above the keys. The Piano has been in my wife's family since 1950 and at the moment, not a single key works. The piano appears to be in excellent condition from the outside and I plan to restore it or have it restored and learn to play. I'm a musician/guitar tutor and would like to add the piano to my list of instruments.

I know very little about piano's at the moment, but would like to find out more about my new Piano.

It has the serial number stamped inside and I was hoping that somebody here could help me to identify the model/age and maybe even value for insurance purposes. There is a logo with the number 3 above the numbers 9438 and am unsure if this means that the serial number is 39438 or not.

Any information would be a huge help!

Many thanks in anticipation.

D

[Bill Kibby]

This was made in the 1900s, after Murdoch took over the Spencer factory. The 3 would be a model number, but most Murdoch pianos cannot be dated by numbers. Have a look at my Datemarks page at pianogen.org

If the keys are sticking, this may be a simple job for your tuner. Nobody anywhere can guess the value or condition of a piano without tuning it.

[Colin Nicholson]

I think its fair to say that Bill spends endless hours in his research on pianos, and all for FREE!
I think it might be a suggestion that before even anyone even 'hints' on a value of their piano, everyone discloses what they actually paid for their piano? The term 'acquired' has many meanings - could be "free" .... "bought for a tenner"...... "worthless"..... and it could even transpire that the removal is worth more than the value of the piano!! - instead of a 'virtual' forum piano tuner coming to tune such a piano - they will probably think exactly the same as us...... "£10 - £50" - unknown condition, not inspected, original condition......

what do we think guys??

[Bill Kibby]

I am grateful to Colin and "Pianolove" for their kind comments, but we do not actually work for free, we depend on donations, and although some people do not pay, and have no concept of the amount of work involved, others who appreciate the uniqueness of our collection pay a little more than they need to. Sadly, we are stuck in a situation where, because the Piano History Centre needs to employ me, this is regarded as personal gain, and disqualifies me from every kind of funding I have been able to find. Many major charities rely on rich people at the top, who work for nothing, although they are at liberty to pay employees and professional consultants etc..