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FREE PIANO IDENTIFICATION & SERIAL NUMBER LOOKUP TOOL
What Year Was My Kohler & Campbell Piano Made?
(Serial Number Lookup + Guide)
DIRECT ANSWER
A Kohler & Campbell piano can usually be dated from its serial number, but the number must be interpreted according to when the piano was made. The original American company built pianos in New York and later Granite Falls, North Carolina. After that company closed in 1985, Samick used the Kohler & Campbell name on pianos it made.
Older American pianos generally have numeric serial numbers. Later Samick-made pianos may have letters followed by digits. Enter the complete number, including every letter and leading zero. Select Kohler & Campbell in the lookup tool, not Samick.
KOHLER & CAMPBELL PIANO SERIAL NUMBER LOOKUP TOOL
WHERE IS THE SERIAL NUMBER ON A KOHLER & CAMPBELL?
KOHLER & CAMPBELL GRAND PIANOS
Open the main lid and secure it with the prop stick.
Look on the cast-iron plate near the tuning pins, particularly around the bass and tenor strings. Also check the plate toward the treble side and the soundboard beneath the strings.
The music desk may hide part of the plate. If it does not move easily, ask a piano technician to help rather than forcing it.
KOHLER & CAMPBELL UPRIGHT PIANOS
Lift the top lid and look at the cast-iron plate above the strings.
Check near the tuning pins and inside any unpainted opening in the plate. If the number is not visible, inspect the other exposed interior surfaces and the back of the piano.
On a later Samick-made piano, copy any letters that appear before the digits. They are part of the serial number.
DO NOT USE THESE NUMBERS
A model number or cabinet-style designation.
A patent date or the company’s founding year cast into the plate.
An action number or other number stamped on an individual part.
The digits alone from a serial number that also contains letters.
If you find several numbers, photograph each one and note where it appears before entering a number in the lookup tool.
WHAT A KOHLER & CAMPBELL SERIAL NUMBER CAN TELL YOU
For an older American piano, a serial-number lookup can usually establish a manufacturing year or production range.
For a recognized Samick-made piano, its letter-and-number serial may identify the production year and, in some cases, an encoded month or factory. Not every serial format supplies the same level of detail.
The serial number cannot identify the original dealer or owner, establish the piano’s present condition or value, or reveal repairs and rebuilding completed after manufacture.
KOHLER & CAMPBELL PIANO HISTORY
Charles Kohler and J. C. Campbell founded Kohler & Campbell in New York City in 1896. The company became a major American piano manufacturer, building upright and grand pianos and participating in the player-piano era.
The company expanded through several New York factory locations as production grew.
In 1954, piano production moved to a new factory in Granite Falls, North Carolina. The company closed in 1985.
Samick subsequently acquired the rights to the Kohler & Campbell name. Later pianos bearing that name were made by Samick, including instruments produced in South Korea and Indonesia. The name on the fallboard alone therefore does not establish a piano’s country of manufacture.
Reviewed by Joe Kemple, Master Piano Technician, Burd and Sons Piano Service · Updated September 2026
Our lookup uses historical serial ranges for American-made Kohler & Campbell pianos and recognizes supported Samick serial formats. When a number cannot be dated reliably, the model and country-of-origin markings may help identify the piano.
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