Removing Bass Strings

[Ron Nossaman]

>At the risk of getting flamed to a crisp....  about 12 years ago I
>restrung a SD-10 that Baldwin had identified as one of the prototypes of
>this piano.  We put the plate back in exactly the same height that it
>came out.  Baldwin sent me a bubble gage and the instructions how to set
>the downbearing.  We had refinished the plate and replaced all of the
>accu-just pins (which were breaking). I quickly found out that with the
>strings at full tension (necessary for setting downbearing), the hitch
>pins were not 'tall' enough.  The plate would need to be raised by 3/16"
>of an inch.  Baldwin advised me to leave the strings at full tension, 
>loosen the plate and proceed to raise it as necessary.  I sweat bullets
>as I was doing it, but they stated that the plate was designed to take
>that kind of tension.  The piano is still used everyday in a college
>setting and has had no problems.
>
>Steve Grattan
>


Hi Steve,
I rebuilt an SF a couple of years ago. That was the heaviest plate I ever
saw (lifted) in a piano that size. I didn't actually weigh it, but it seemed
noticeably heavier than the plate in an S&S D that came in later. If the
SD's plate was built as heavy, you were safer raising it under full tension
than you are doing pitch raises on Wurlitzer spinits. That is, if your hoist
didn't collapse. Worry about *that* for a while. <G> Realistically though,
there's very little lateral support for the plate with Baldwin's (or any,
for that matter) mounting system, so the plate is taking all the tension
whether the rim bolts are in or not. The bolts mostly just maintain the
height and keep it straight (or bent). Still seems scary though. It's a
wonderful system. No flames here.

 Ron