My Kimball Petite Baby Grand serial number is K304534

June 19, 2020 2:43 PM

I have a petite baby grand Kimball piano which is in excellent shape and features wonderful sound. (Note: This is not the "LaPetite" label Kimball.) I'd like to determine how old it is.

The serial number is K304534, which I have not been able to find on any online searches. I did find that Kimball used letter prefixes beginning about 1974, but none of the ones I found were K.
The piano features a lattice-work music holder and looks just like the one in this video:

Any info would be very helpful, thanks!

posted by ragtimepiano to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Information here suggests 1917.
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 3:04 PM on June 19, 2020

Response by poster: Yes, thank you, I had found that site, but the piano tuner told me there was no way my piano is that old. Also, it includes a letter with the serial number, unlike the pianos built that early.
posted by ragtimepiano at 3:07 PM on June 19, 2020

Not to second guess you here, but is it possible that this K304534 number is a case number rather than a serial number? Apparently some piano manufacturers will have multiple serial numberings (e.g.: see this webpage or this excerpt from a book about Steinways). The "K" prefix seems a bit out-of-the-ordinary for Kimball according to one of the posts on this piano forum thread which references "Pierce" -- i.e.: the Pierce Piano Atlas -- and lists R, J, C, T, A, S, B, and D as valid letter prefixes. Of course, the forum poster might have omitted K from that list, either inadvertently or for the sake of conciseness. In any case, I would probably suggest poking around to see if there are any other serial number-looking things on your piano and, if possible, finding a copy of Pierce (perhaps at your local library if they're open) and checking there.
posted by mhum at 5:29 PM on June 19, 2020 [2 favorites]