I got a piano from my neighbor tonight. Its an upright very tall piano with a 'tiger' veneer and it's beautiful. The serial number is 7916. It has the following in the music board right above the serial number that says: "PATENTS. 480.996.AUG.9.92 - 448.033.MAR.10.91 - 448.032.MAY.10.91 - 439.875.NOV.4.90"

How old is this piano?

Also, it might appear that I will need to replace most of the keys. (or all the keys). Does anyone know where I would begin to find a full set of keys that would fit this piano?

Thank you very much.

Funny, I've always wanted my own. And I got my own a couple weeks ago, free off of Craigslist. It is a 1938 Whitney Chicago and plays great. Now I have a second one. Not sure which one to keep or what to do. Thanks to any suggestions.

George Jackson
Georgetown, Texas

Hi George! I'm not sure what you mean by, "replace most of the keys." If the piano has ivory key tops, and some/most are missing or broken, it is simply the key tops that will need to be replaced. The modern replacement for them is plastic, and you would want to have the entire set of naturals replaced.

Well, when I got the piano most all the base keys had lifted off the front and center pins and shifted towards the center jamming. Looking in pretty bad shape. I have since taken it apart and reseated all the keys. They fit beautifully and the sounds is tremendous!

Alot of the ivory plates are cracked, missing, bowed, etc., etc. So I will be needing to replace all of them with a full matching set of plastics key covers. Anyone know a good company that I can get these at a good cost?

Also, any idea on the year? Again the serial is 7916. Yes on all the wood pieces the stamp of 916 exists. The "7" is always missing. Not sure why.

Thanks for any further information, resources given, or any kind of help at all.

George Jackson

Looks like they had a good reputation...

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=brau...D7F9719FBA9078C

Can I get any further help on the aprox value this piano could be? I need to know if it's worth restoring.

Thanks,
George

Maybe just clean it, and fix the key tops... there are used pianos from the 80s and 90s that sell for less than $2000 in the private market. This ancient piano will have a tough time competing against those.