Baldwin 743 question

Fred Sturm fssturm@unm.edu
Fri, 16 Apr 2004 07:26:44 -0600


--On Thursday, April 15, 2004 4:23 PM -0500 Mark Cramer 
<Cramer@BrandonU.CA> wrote:

> Please pardon the abscence of optimism, but I find servicing the 743's,
> beyond tuning, tends to underwhelm even the most meager expectations.
>
	I have a stable that includes some 30 243's from the mid 60's, and, yes, I 
am happy that I can see the day that they will all be replaced (four gone 
this year). But I also want to present a different view. Unlike Mark, I 
have been pleasantly surprised at how much of an improvement can be made. 
Understand that these have been sorely neglected over the years, with very 
minimal maintenance - I think mostly limited to "raise the capstans, 
tighten the screws, tune occasionally," and, during my early tenure, 
re-glue the loose hammer heads and re-pin the flopping flanges. Not a 
hammer had seen a file, for instance, and keybushings - well, wood was 
slapping wood (IOW keys hitting their neighbors).
	I have now taken eight or ten of these, and re-bushed the keys, filed the 
hammers, replaced wipp cushion felt, replaced front rail felt, lubed the 
damper lift rail and spoons with Protek, spaced/squared/travelled hammers 
(in reverse order), regulated, and steam voiced - with a little needle 
touch up. A solid 8 hours per piano, sometimes more. And the result has 
been really quite remarkable. Very serviceable, functional, adequate 
instruments after that work is done.
	I'm glad to be replacing them, but my opinion of their potential has risen 
tremendously. As for the initial question about twisting bass strings, I'm 
afraid I don't have an opinion based on experience.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico


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