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If you look on the outer rim where the piano curves there is a handle or knob. Does anyone know what this is? They are on the BP 190 & 178 on Bladwin's website but the one I am looking to purchase does not. Anyone? Thank you.

Ok people I have answered my own question. It is apparently a turning knob for the locking mechanism for the lid. Why it is showing on the BP 178 on the Baldwin website and not on the new piano at my dealer I don't know. Could the piano I am looking at have been constructed so long ago that a design change has taken place since?

I wasn't able to follow your link but what you are describing is a catch for the lid to help it stay closed while the piano is being moved.

The Baldwin models you referenced now have a hydraulic lid but earlier models did not, so that is probably why the knob is missing. With the hydraulic lid it is considered a necessary feature.

New link please!

It is a lid locking mechanism. If the piano your are buying is without it, you will at least never experience the buzz that piece of hardware is capable of making. In my book that is a plus!

+1
Paying techs to chase down a buzz/rattle is no fun at all!

Ed, after first seeing these devices, the thought of someone drilling a hole through the side of a perfectly good concert grand piano rim sent a chill up my spine! Pianos have been moved without such devices for years, as piano lids have been lowered without hydraulics/pneumatics, which I think are large and unsightly IMHO. What's next, holes for cupholders bored through the music desk support, tv stands screwed to the bentside, adjustable shelving rails attached to the spine, wine cooler hanging beside the lyre, lifting rings in the string plate, Nok Hockey board built into the lid, and the pièce de résistance, the remote control fallboard? Where's it gonna' all stop??!!!



I think this is all about finding something to add to "the same old piano" to make it stand out in some way more than anything else, much like the new fad in automobile headlights, whereas the manufacturers are now adding strips of white LED's around the perimeter of or parallel to the headlight fixtures, which don't particularly add any illumination to the roadway ahead, but are morseo designed for brand recognition than anything else. I think the first to do this was Mercedes Benz, and then other manufacturers were quick to follow suit, similar to how this once concert grand piano only accoutrement has trickled down to the Baldwin BP178, which is only 5'-10"...

Regards,
Andy

These locks are more common on European pianos than American pianos.

My 130-year-old Bluthner has just such a knob.

That sir, is orange juice.

Is there such a thing as a piano with a cupholder? I've seen pictures of pianos with candle holders and the like, but considering the number of people who play the piano with a glass of whiskey or whatever close to hand... ? I've never seen a picture of a piano with a cupholder, though.

I always practice first thing in the morning, and one of the only reasons I like to play hands separate is that I can hold my coffee in one hand and sip while my other hand plays. I've always thought pianos should come with cupholders. That being said, I couldn't bear to drill a hole in my piano, so I want to have my husband, who's a bit of a metal artist, to fashion me a free standing cup holder that will conform artfully to my piano.

According to most piano techs, and I myself quite agree, that resting a cup of whatever liquid beside the music desk of a grand piano is as dangerous as being blindfolded and naked while juggling chainsaws running at their full RPM while balanced on one foot atop a giant saguaro cactus located in the middle of a burning lake of fire with scorpions and fire ants in little fireproof rowboats circling around it in a windstorm.

It's just an accident waiting to happen!

Call me nuts but I don't even like to rest a pair of glasses on the music desk support, and if I DO have a drink, I keep it on a nearby stand or table where it should be, away from my piano, where I'll grab it when desired.

There are already too many avenues for casual and unintended refuse to drop into the action and cause possible mechanical damage, so why raise the bar by adding liquid damage to the mix? I can just hear all the after an owner knocks their Coke over, then is privi to the new Coke voiced hammers striking their treble unisons with a squishy "shthwing" sound and the liquid contained therein spraying up at the same time across the adjoining strings, pinblock, and soundboard?



Not me!!!

Regards,
Andy

I thought they were standard on the Steinlager pianos -- extra wide cheek blocks with a circular recess for large beer mugs.... ;-)

No food or drink is allowed in the half of the room my piano inhabits. Period. Water is kept 6 feet away in a sports bottle on the dining table.

Peanuts, that's what that is!

1776 again? You are such a wag, siveron, LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. Gould was living on the edge!

There should also be a pin and strike plate associated with the knob latch. The idea was to provide a sort of heavy duty attachment between the lid and case for pianos that get moved a lot. It helps somewhat to protect the hinges from lateral loading. For a personal piano at home, you're better off without it.

Like the sostenuto, it's one of those not quite successful but not quite failed ideas.