Jeff: Is it a single piece fallboard or a folding type. By 1955 I'd think it would be single but 1903 would certainly be a folding fallboard. dp David M. Porritt, RPT dporritt at smu.edu<mailto:dporritt at smu.edu> From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Tanner Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 2:59 PM To: College and University Technicians Subject: [CAUT] Suspicious Serial Number I tuned an old Baldwin M yesterday. Second time I've seen it. But the piano was bought over the internet. The lady had really wanted one of my new pianos, but her husband said they couldn't afford a new one. He told me they "got a really good deal" on the piano, this being the second grand piano in two years they'd bought this way. The first, a 1903 Apollo cost them $200 plus $1200 to get it shipped from Michigan. It couldn't be tuned outside the two or three middle octaves and actually fell right in the floor one day. So, they tried their internet luck again, and found this Baldwin. The seller delivered the piano from several states away, in person. Claimed he was selling it for the owner, who'd owned it for 50 years but was now deceased and had serviced it for the owner for years. Anyhow, the pins are extremely loose and it really needs restringing, so I got to looking for the serial number. The 4 digit number stamped in the plate triangle under the "M" couldn't have been right, even though it looked like a first digit may have been somehow erased, which would have made it a 5-digit number. I figure it was a production number. So, I looked under the soundboard where Baldwin usually stamps the model and serial number. The wood felt really smooth there. It had obviously been sanded away. Inside the action, there were two different versions of serial numbers. On the keyframe, I read 130493 - no numbers anywhere close to the number on the plate. Likewise on the back of the keyslip, the same number. Now, in these two places, the 1 almost looked like it could have been stamped in there later because it wasn't as deep in the wood, and it was cleaner than the others. In other locations, the keyframe, keyblocks and fallboard, only 30493 was stamped. If the correct number is 30493, the piano was made in 1917. If the 1 is correct, that bumps it to 1955. Unfortunately, I don't see enough old Baldwins to be able to know what kinds of other characteristics to look for to be able to confirm a vintage. I would assume it to be possible, if not probable, that Baldwin "evolved" the M scale between 1917 and 1955. Of course, I realize that isn't all that significant. I actually became more curious about the serial number and why there would be what looks to be an attempt to disguise the identity of this old piano. Any ideas? Jeff Tanner -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20100213/8989bf90/attachment.htm>
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