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Hi,

I got this piano a few months back for €150. The condition isn't exactly good. I posted it in the Adult Beginners' Forum, but I decided to post it here as well to get more info on the piano.

I think it's a Hamilton from the 1950s, after doing some research, but I'm not sure. I'm confused by the "Product of Baldwin" inside the piano. Any info and a guess on price or cost to repair (particularly the hammers) would be appreciated !

My baby in its full glory:


The sign on the left side reads: "Please don't put glasses on top of the piano !". It's a remnant of its pub days.

To prove I'm always ready to practice:



As you can see in the above and below photos, the keyboard isn't in the condition it came in originally:



(That's my son hammering away in the background).
The hammers are about in the same condition as the keyboard itself. This probably explains why some notes hardly sound when I use the soft pedal. I've even remarked some hammers stay stuck on the strings when played softly. Maybe it also explains the wildly enthusiastic sympathetic resonance, much more than I expected ?



Finally, to give you experts some research work, the serial number:



That's 141574. I don't know which type of Baldwin this is or what age it is. The tuning, to my not entirely untrained ears, is okay though it could use a good retune. If anything, it would do wonders for playing consistency to have the hammers replaced. All other thoughts and suggestions are welcome !

According to some info I found online, it is around a 1952 model. The hammers have some wear, but are not worn out.

The Baldwin/Hamilton (All a product of Baldwin) studio uprights are pretty well built and tough. Your piano likely has some life left in it, but I doubt it would be worth having new hammers installed. I’d invest in a newer piano before I spend the money for that…

Not sure what else it might need. I’d have it tuned and play the heck out of it!

Congratulations!

Rick

Take the lower harp cover off and look at the cast date on the plate. There will be a number like 52 12 9 or something like that. That will give you a pretty good idea on a build date if you can't via SN#. Normally it's on the lower left corner somewhere

One of the biggest issues that come up on 243 studios like this one is slippage of the bass bridge cap. I seem to get lots of them with a loose cap, I just fixed three of them in the last month like that. That being said I still like them a LOT !!

A really good cleaning, maybe put a set of new key covers on, fairly inexpensive, take some 320 grit sand paper to the pedals, buff them out, re-shape the hammers and you will have something good

I think a relatively small amount of money and time could really improve your piano.

The "sympathetic resonance" you're experience is likely the dampers and action needing adjusting and regulation. That will also help with controlling volume.

From the photos it looks like the hammers have plenty left. Perhaps have a tech reshape them. None of these items are big ticket expenses. New keytops or replacing the worst ones isn't real expensive either.

I'll see if I can do that this evening. Is this a cover under the keyboard ?



Okay, so a bit of maintenance would improve the internals. That's good news. As for the outside: I don't mind that the piano looks beaten up, it adds to the character. So keytops will definitely stay. As long as I get the internals in better shape, I'd be happy.

Thanks for the advice !

It wasn't exactly on the lower left corner:



As you can see, it's right in the middle of the lower harp. Here's a close-up:



That's 28, then 48 8 17. So I guess my piano is older than we thought at nearly 65.




I guess the cleaning, key covers and pedal work that you mention are mainly cosmetic ? I don't mind the cosmetics as they are, so I'd skip those. Reshaping the hammers is definitely required and after some googling ("it's on the Internet so it must be true"), it doesn't look like it's the most expensive job but I won't be able to do it myself.

What would be the effect of a loose bass bridge cap ?

Lack of volume and tone clarity, most likely; maybe some buzzing.

It probably wouldn't hurt to re-seat the strings to the bridge and maybe tap the bridge pins a little.

If you have the hammers re-shaped, they will also have to be mated to the strings.

Good luck, and have fun!

Rick

Rick,

Checked quickly yesterday evening and to my non-technician ears, bass sounds fine as far as volume and clarity are concerned. No buzzing. I'll get a technician in to look at the hammers and to quickly see if there's anything else.

Thanks you everybody for all your opinions !