Hi guys,

I'm trying to help a friend of mine find a decent piano. At this point I know much more about pianos, so it's a bit easier, but there's still lots I don't know.

I need to know the age of a Kemble piano with serial #258283. Can someone help me out here?

Thanks!

It was made about 16 years ago.

Thanks! I'll definitely check it out. I don't know the model yet, but it's a pretty tall white upright. I may be able to bargain it down (they are asking $700). If I can get it to $500 and it checks out mechanically, that's a decent price, no?

Looking at all the pianos on the Kemble website, it looks like either the K109 model, or the Cambridge 12 model. The Cambridge 12 is offered in white (the K109 is not), and the piano I'm looking at is white. Is it reasonable to assume that it is the Cambridge 12 model? Where can the owner find the model? And what is this piano worth at 16-20 years of age and in good mechanical condition?

I would not know the model nor would I care. It is what it is, and you are not going to have a choice in the matter. The taller it is, the more I might think it is worth, but there are exceptions to that. The value of the piano is whatever is agreed upon by the buyer and the seller. There are no guidelines that have to be followed.

I don't care about the model number for anything other than using it to get the exact specs of the piano. From my research, it's between 109 and 112 centimeters tall. And obviously the "value" is whatever someone will pay for it. But relatively modern pianos without great wear have ranges in value which can be used as a guideline, so you (or someone else) could provide meaningful input about that, or don't, but don't act as if it's impossible to do so.

Using an invoice of about $8,000 from: http://bluebookofpianos.com/pin.html#Kemble

and the depreciation of 45% from here: http://www.pianobuyer.com/fall11/65.html

my calculation is about $3,600.

The asking price of $700 seems quite reasonable, but a lower offer is always suggested for the start. Good luck and have it inspected by a tech as a final condition of purchase.

Thanks for that extremely helpful post Guapo! I can probably inspect it myself at this point, since I know a fair bit now about pianos. Maintenance records, the piano being in tune, and mostly me enjoying how the piano plays and sounds, would go a long way towards making me feel comfortable buying without a professional inspection.