Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum PAS strikes again! This time: 1978 Baldwin R

Sam, trust your skill as a pianist. In the clip, the big R.H. chords were beautifully voiced, and I mean that from the pianistic definition and not the technical term. The 'sparkle' on top is beautifully executed.

Ah, yes. Voicing. Something I didn't even know existed until about a year ago. I remember feeling angry when I found out about the concept. "You mean I have to play ALL these blasted notes, AND I have to play some of them louder??!! What the *&$%!!"

I don't think I played them all that well in this clip, but I appreciate the compliments anyway. I'm trying to get my playing up to a level that I'm satisfied with, but, alas, it has not happened yet.

Your new piano will help you get there. Trust me!

It’s pretty hard to tell from a recording. But from the sound of it they probably are original hammers. In 1978 they would have been pressed by Baldwin and you may have lucked out and avoided the worst of the chemical days. The certainly don't sound over-cooked! Again, having a technician who knows his/her way around hammers will be critical. A light sanding, some careful string fitting, etc., should improve things quite a bit. You may have lucked out.

This piano would also have had Pratt, Read or Pratt, Win (both equally bad) wippens. Whoever is regulating the action needs to pay attention to the friction at the repetition lever center—making sure it is high enough. If this friction at this center is too low it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to regulate hammer drop and rise.

If you have the opportunity to replace the wippens the newer, single-spring wippens by Renner or Wessel, Nickel & Gross (my current favorite) should be a noticeable improvement over the original.

ddf

Well, if my playing had been that good, I would have been very satisfied with myself. VERY satisfied!

In 1978, they would have been wippens of the Baldwin design, with the single spring with a loop in the middle going from the repetition lever to jack. Baldwin did not buy Pratt Read from Sohmer until at least the mid-1980s. Pratt Read may have made the parts for Baldwin earlier than the buyout.

If memory serves, the geometry for each was similar and they both had the same problem. Through the 1970s it was common to purchase two sets of PR parts in the hope of being able to come up with enough good ones to make a full, working set.

When I went to work at Baldwin in early 1985 the so-called Pratt, Win action plant had been in production in Juarez for several years. I don't remember when Juarez actually began building actions.

ddf

I get jealous the more I read this thread.. If you bought this in socal, then I totally missed out.. Unless it was not a public sale.oh well, ill be on the lookout.

very cool

Happy birthday! Maybe I should give you the piano for your birthday. Or maybe not
It was a public sale, but it was an estate sale (advertised on craigslist and elsewhere) and I got there 5 minutes after they opened. I was so pleasantly surprised by the instrument, and we all know that happens far too rarely. You win some, you lose some. I usually lose on the good ones (probably to you, and the dealers), so it was nice to win one!

thx!! this probably wont be your last piano.. so it will be a battle between us all.. lol

Hey.. Maybe if I'm ever around your area, I can swing by and check out the piano.. Are you in LA/Hollywood?

Yes I am

PM me your phone number or something and we can set something up. I'm always down for meeting up with PW members!

Well played, sir.

I've been vacinated for PAS...you can't aquire a piano if you have no place to put it. If I had somewhere to put more, I would probably be infected.

There's an antidote!

I had that vaccination, but the disease developed immunity. I found another place to put pianos, and now I have full blown PAS again...

I definitely have had PAS for some time now. The first time I found a second piano that I wanted, it was an upright Steinway in very nice cosmetic condition---and it was free. Sadly, my wife stopped me from getting it.
The good news is that apparently even my wife may have symptoms now! :-)
Just last month I found a 1937 Baldwin L for only a couple hundred dollar and I was on my way to picking it up when the niece to whom I was going to give it (she was interested in rebuilding it with me) got a Steinway upright as a surprise wedding gift while she was on her honeymoon, and suddenly didn't have room to put this grand, too. Two days later, my wife had an idea about giving it to the school where our children attend (the school loved the idea!), but by that time the owners found a school in their neighborhood which agreed to take it. I couldn't believe how disappointed my wife was---even though she fully realized I was going to be working nights and weekends to restore that piano *at the school*.

I would say that qualifies her for the condition, don't you think?


(edit 2/21)
P.S. Couldn't help adding a picture or two. Boy, sure hope it has found a wonderful home.

You know you have PAS when you just purchased a piano and are still looking at piano sale listings afterwards.

Steve in Cincy, that's awesome! Your wife is really cool.

Gatsbee, that's how I know I have a really severe case of the disease. I've been known to look at piano listings on my phone while purchasing a piano and while watching the movers move it.