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Hi everyone,

I had a question about the Baldwin Artist series pianos that I am hoping to get some guidance on.

I've read here that starting in the 80's the company started doing things to the piano that affected the sound, which makes them sound brighter then the Baldwin's of previous era's.

From my understanding, it seems that they used really hard hammers.

Does anyone know what year they started doing this?

I recently purchased a Baldwin Model R from 1982 that sounds a little bright.

I'm curious to know if this is a year when they started implementing those types of changes.

Thanks for all of your help!



.

I didn't find my former Baldwin R to be bright at all, it had a lovely tone. Hammers get compacted over time, some voicing can make a big difference.

You read that here? I missed those posts.

As ebonyKawai pointed out, the hammers have probably hardened/compressed over time.

I have a newer Baldwin R from 1999, and it has what I would describe as that traditional American Baldwin tone (warm and mellowish); not too bright at all, but bright in the uppermost treble where it needs to be bright.

But I too have heard some brighter sounding Baldwin grands. There are different degrees/levels of bright, in my view (a little bright, a lot bright, shrill bright, screaming bright, etc...)

I agree with the others that some voicing can make a big difference in taming some of the brightness.

Good luck.

Rick

Nice to see another Baldwin owner. I've never noticed that 1980s or 1990s Baldwin grands were intrinsically brighter than earlier Baldwins - but they can be voiced that way. Where I grew up, all the nicer grand pianos were 80s Baldwins (I never saw a Steinway in that isolated area) and none of them were excessively bright. I play a 1989 Baldwin grand myself (but with new hammers), and it isn't what I would call bright overall. I do have a 1990s Baldwin console that is very bright, however - it was intentionally voiced that way. I would second (fourth?) the advice from ebonykawai et. al; your Baldwin might benefit from voicing by a competent tech.

These pianos can benefit greatly from the basics such as voicing. I service a 1988 Baldwin R that was sounding very harsh. Here's a recording after regulating the action, voicing the hammers and of course tuning it.

http://picosong.com/wCucG

Lovely, just lovely.
The acoustic is a bit cramped, as if it were recorded very closely.
I prefer piano tone that is less "in your face."
Nevertheless, the instrument has a very even, nicely regulated effect.
Are you the pianist ?
If so, you play well.
Thanks
Karl Watson,
Staten Island, NY

Some of the brightest pianos I've ever played were Baldwins, but as others have said, they just needed some hammer shaping and voicing to return them to a beautiful tone.

I know we have discussed the differences in actions in the later Baldwin Artist series pianos recently here on PW, meaning not all of them have Renner actions. Is the same true for the hammers? Did Baldwin use Renner hammers exclusively in the Artist grands after the Renner actions were introduced, or did the use other hammers when they did not use Renner actions?

Karl,

Yes I did play the piece in the recording. It was a fairly close up recording due to the less than ideal room accoustics. What you are hearing could also be due to the choice of mics I used. They are very high end but sometimes a bit too clean and focused which can lead to them sounding a bit harsh.

Nice playing Ed! The piano sounds beautiful. Is that a clock I hear ticking in the background?

I posted some pictures of my Baldwin R action here a few years ago, and one of the more well known and respected technicians PM'd me and said the action was the Baldwin action (made in Juarez Mexico) but the hammers looked German to her. Not sure that answers any questions, but my Baldwin R sounds and plays great to me. I guess that is what matters...

Here are some of the pics: (these were taken when I first got the piano and before I did some action regulation to straighten the hammer line via cap-stands and adjust hammer blow-distance)

Rickster, she is correct about the action parts being made in Juarez, Mexico, and that the hammers are German - they are Renner Hammers. When Baldwin reintroduced the R as the Artist Grand in 1998, they changed from the Baldwin hammers to Renner. The hammers are similar to the Renner Blues, but not quite as hard. They voiced nicely, and I considered them an improvement over the Baldwin hammers.

To my knowledge, the only models that Baldwin used Renner action parts in were the SD-10 and the SF-10.

I was a Baldwin dealer from 1995 to 2002, so I spent a lot of time with these pianos.

Will Truitt

Thanks, William! That is good to know that it has the Renner hammers, at least. The piano does sound nice (to me), and I've pounded the heck out of it.

Again, the tone is nice and mellow, and not nasally bright at all. The Baldwin R is the 226 Queen-Ann model, and the music desk is very stylish, along with the French legs. I was also told by another well-known tech here (Dell Fandrich) that the action didn't look like the piano had been played a lot. Well, it gets played a lot now...

Hope this info helps the OP.

Rick

I sold a couple of the Queen Anne's, a pretty piano.

Del's the best. He was the head of research and development at Baldwin for many years.

Will