Restored Baldwin out the door

[Delwin D Fandrich]

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  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Erwinspiano@aol.com=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: January 03, 2003 3:55 PM
  Subject: Restored Baldwin out the door



           List
           Tomorrow I'm delivering a 1920 pre-model R Baldwin. It's 5 =
ft. 8 " I just thought some would enjoy a thought or two on this. This =
is the first Baldwin I've had the opportunity to do a complete =
restoration on including new belly and all. Although I'm not a big =
Baldwin fan I am very pleased with the way this piano came out. Tonally =
it's very strong, and dark sounding with excellent sustain =
characteristics. Very even scale note to note& no weak spots or notes. =
This board had/has eleven ribs compared to a modern Rs 10 heavier built =
ribs. The original ribbing was really to light especially in the bottom =
end. Like 15/16 mm deep on the first 3 or ribs. I beefed them up. I use =
tight sugar pine thru out on a Sitka panel.
    I was shocked to think that Baldwin Designers had any idea that ribs =
that thin would retain any kind of real crown for more than two weeks.=20
Why should you be so shocked? In a compression-crowned soundboard =
assembly the ribs actually resist the formation of crown and of =
necessity must be flexible enough to bend as the board expands. The ribs =
on compression-crowned soundboards are almost always wider than they are =
tall -- though this is some shallow even for an early c-c board.=20

I'm guessing that they were trying to reduce the stiffness of the =
soundboard assembly to give it somewhat better mobility in response to =
the larger movement required to develop good articulation in the bass.=20

To determine whether or not it worked as designed you would have to go =
back to the original specification and try it. Which, with a Baldwin =
Model L, I was nearly able to do. We were looking into redesigning the =
current (as of the late 1980s) Model L and I was able to locate the =
original design specifications for what was then known as the Model C. =
Your mention of the shallow ribs reminds me of those specified for that =
piano. We built up a piano as close to the original as possible and =
found it to be a truly wonderful sounding instrument. The sound at =
pianissimo was incredibly lush and warm and yet was exceptionally =
dynamic with an adequately bright and powerful forte. At least for the =
size room in which it would have typically been used. It was a superb =
chamber piano. But it was not LOUD enough. POWERFUL enough. LOUD enough. =
BRILLIANT enough. LOUD enough. BIG enough. LOUD enough. BRIGHT enough. =
Or LOUD enough. It was not what the management of the day wanted to =
emulate the onslaught of Asian pianos with their much harder, linear and =
LOUD sound. So, of course, rather than be different and walk the road =
less traveled, the piano was scrapped. Ah, well....

Del


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