Kawai Howard

[robert goodale]

Baldwin marketed a good number of these during this era.  They were actually
a pretty darn good piano for the price.  Perhaps a little less in quality
than the standard Kawai but not a bad little piano.  The ones I have seen
have a slightly different plate casting, (triangular holes instead of
round), but other than that the scale seems to be the same.

Rob Goodale, RPT
Las Vegas, NV


Clyde Hollinger wrote:

> Friends,
>
> I ran into a new one today.  Inside, the grand piano looked for all the
> world like a Kawai, complete with the decal, emblem on the plate, plate
> configuration, and it claimed to be a model 550-C, serial 557975.  On
> the fallboard was written Howard (which I know is a Baldwin name) and in
> the lower right corner "built specially for Baldwin by Kawai, Japan."
> According to Pierce it was made in 1971.
>
> So what do we have here?  Was it really built any differently for
> Baldwin, or was just the name on the fallboard changed?  I never knew
> Kawai ever built pianos for Baldwin.  BTW, it also had a serious loose
> tuning pin problem in the bass and a few others here and there, if that
> has anything to do with anything.
>
> Regards,
> Clyde Hollinger, RPT
> Lititz, PA, USA