Kimball Pianos Serial Numbers

1. Kimball Piano Serial Numbers
2. How Much Is An Old Kimball Piano Worth
3. Kimball Piano Serial Number Search
4. Kimball Piano Serial Number Lookup

We see quite a few antique Kimball pianos come through our restoration shop. One might assume that since Kimball was built in large numbers and sold at an affordable price that Kimball pianos must be mediocre at best. However, our experience has been that pre-depression era Kimball pianos are exceptionally well made, good sounding instruments. 'Since 1976 Kimball serial numbers are preceded by a letter; letters stand for: R=Kimball Brand, J=Jasper American private label, C=Conn, T=Misc. Production of Grands stopped early 1996 and Verticals in April 1996.' There are also A, S, B, D, numbers, but Pierce does not indicate what they stand for. All of these letter-preceded. Each piano is manufactured with a unique serial number that is recorded for future reference of not only when it was made but also where. Discover your Piano’s Age and Country Of Origin with our 5 Star Accuracy Guide to ensure the quality and reliability of each result. Kimball piano factory was one of the largest manufacturing operations in the world, with rail lines running through the facility, dropping off raw materials and picking up finished pianos for shipment. Kimball was the world's largest piano manufacturer from the late 1800s until the Great Depression of the 1930s. This division started as a piano dealership in Chicago in 1857 as W.W. Kimball and Company by William Wallace Kimball (1828–1904). In 1864, Kimball moved from its earliest location in the corner of a jewelry store to sales rooms in the Crosby Opera House where Kimball sold pianos made by East Coast piano makers Chickering and Sons, the J & C Fischer Piano Company, Hallet & Davis, F.C.

Kimball Pianos. From its humble beginnings in 1857 as W.W. Kimball and Company, to the present mega company, Kimball International, the brand name Kimball has certainly gone through some interesting events over the decades. Kimball Pianos are some of the best known pianos in the world, and unfortunately, they are no longer produced as of 1996.

The last Grand Piano made by the company is on display in their Showroom in Jasper, Indiana. On it you can see the autographs of all employees and executives of the company.

W.W. Kimball and Company (1857-1959)
What we know today as Kimball international has its roots in the corner of a jewelry store. There is where William Wallace Kimball founded the company as a piano dealership. He later moved to the Crosby Opera House from where he sold pianos made by other manufacturers, such as Chickering and Sons, the J & C Fischer Piano Company, Hallet & Davis, and others.

It is important to note that at this point, Kimball was purely a dealership, not a manufacturer, although this would later change.
In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire wrecked havoc to Kimball's business, razing down all the company’s assets. Wallace Kimball did not, however, give up. He started working from home and gradually rebuilt the business.

The first time that Kimball began making its own instruments was in 1877 when it started assembling reed organs. The company quickly grew as a manufacturer and by 1880 the organs they were selling were made wholly in-house.
The Kimball Company was officially formed in 1882 and at this time there was enough money to build a large factory for the production of reed organs. Production underwent a quick growth spurt and soon peaked at 15,000 organs per year. This meant that the company was the largest organ maker in the world.

In 1887, the company broadened its manufacturing business to include pianos. A massive five story factory was built for that purpose. Over the next ensuing decades, superior piano quality and aggressive sales tactics made Kimball one of the top producers of pianos in the world. During this time they made different types of pianos including player and upright pianos.
In the early 1900s Reed organs were falling out of 'public favor' as pianos increased in popularity due to a number of factors, including economics.

So in 1922 after producing a total of 403,990 reed organs, Kimball halted the production of any more.
Subsidiary of Jasper Corporation (1959-1996)
Jasper Corporation was a contract manufacturer of furniture, founded in 1950 by Arnold Habig. The company grew from a small corporation making a little more than $100,000 in their first year to millions of dollars in later years.
Through Habig’s brilliant entrepreneurship, Jasper Corporation rose to acquiring other furniture manufacturing companies along the way. In 1959, Habig wanted to expand the company’s production scope to guarantee stability. In order to utilize the woodworking skills of the employees, the new expansion had to be something to do with wood.

In comes the Kimball Piano Company, which was by now struggling to cope as a result of financial mistakes by Kimball Jr. It had gone from the top piano maker in the world to the seventh.

'Music for The Millions'

Mr. Habig purchased the company in 1959 and moved it to West Baden Springs in Indiana in 1961. In the period of around 10 years, Kimball underwent a period of rejuvenation and by 1969 had once gain regained its title as largest piano maker worldwide. The subsidiary company grew so successful that they shipped 150 electric organs and 250 pianos on a daily basis from the factory.

Kimball produced grand pianos ranging from 135cm (4' 5') in length, to larger 201cm (6' 11') pianos. Other piano types produced included small console and upright pianos.

In 1966, the Jasper Corporation [parent company to Kimball pianos] bought the prestigious Austrian piano maker, Bosendorfer. It remained Kimball's, before returning to Austrian hands, when purchased by the BAWAG PSK Gruppe in 2002.

On December 20, 2007, BAWAG signed an agreement to sell all stock in Bösendorfer to Yamaha, who owns the company to this present day (2017).

Kimball International (1974 to date)
Executives at Jasper Corporation noted that the Kimball brand name was more popular than Jasper. They decided to leverage its popularity to increase furniture sales. So in 1974 Kimball International was incorporated as a public company.

In the 1990s, sales of pianos were plummeting. This was mostly due to the presence of other musical instruments in the market.

Things became so bad that the company was forced to close down the piano and organ arm of Kimball International in 1996.

As mentioned before, the last Grand Piano is displayed in a showroom in Jasper Indiana. Meanwhile, Kimball International has focused all its resources on the furniture business.

Kimball Pianos
Serial Numbers

Kimball's production of grands stopped in early 1996, and vertical pianos in April 1996. Please reach out to us via our Appraisals Page for serial numbers and Kimball piano values, not contained on this page.

Kimball Piano Serial Numbers

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One of the primary ways you can begin to investigate the value of your piano is by locating the serial number. The serial number is considered your piano’s birth certificate, and it is the way the original manufacturer assigned it a unique.

However, locating it can be tricky. We provide our customers with the following real-life diagrams to quickly help them find the serial number on their grand or upright piano.

How Much Is An Old Kimball Piano Worth

Grand serial numbers like on the Steinway pictured above may be found in many different places. The various places on the diagram point to some possible locations.

Typically, a serial number has 5 to 7 digits, but in some cases, it may have fewer or more and may also include a letter. This is a view of the grand with the lid open and the music desk removed. It may be necessary to clean dust off the harp or soundboard before the serial number can be seen.

Kimball Piano Serial Number Search

Upright or vertical piano serial numbers can usually be found by lifting the lid and looking inside on the gold harp or plate. It is usually not necessary to remove the upper front panel to find the serial number (as in this picture).

By locating the serial number, you can begin your research to know the value of the piano. The first thing the serial number tells you is the age of the piano. Paired with the who made the piano, the age is a key piece of information, and many piano experts can begin to assign a value quickly after assessing the condition and a few other criteria.

Sometimes, however, a serial number can be nearly impossible to find, even to professionals who know where to look and have identified thousands of serial numbers in their years of expertise. If you are running into this problem, feel free to give us a call, and we’ll be happy to work with you to locate your serial number.

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Original image sources:

Grand piano: https://www.amromusic.com/

Upright piano: http://www.steinhovenpianos.com/

Kimball Piano Serial Number Lookup