compression ridges in New Baldwin grand

[Farrell]

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I bought a new Steinway some years ago. The soundboard had a full =
1/4-inch REVERSE crown. From both the dealer and from several Steinway =
"technical" people in New York: "Does it sound OK". Well, I'm not very =
experienced with piano sound evaluation, but it seems OK. "There, you =
see, there is no problem at all". "Every Steinway is unique."

This brings to mind a story that Franz Moor told about a lady that =
bought a new Steinway grand. She was thrilled with her new =
sweet-sounding piano. Shortly afterward her technician told her that =
there was a defect in the plate (don't remember exactly what it was) =
that should not be there and would likely degrade the tone. She demanded =
an exchange. She finally got it. After a while she complained to =
Steinway that the replacement piano did not have the same tone character =
as the flawed one. So she ended up getting a second replacement. After a =
while she was unhappy with that piano - she wanted her original piano =
back - warts and all. Steinway told her that the piano had already been =
sold and was not available. The lady was devastated.

During the time she was trading out pianos, someone in the basement of =
Steinway ran into Franz and told him of a superior piano that had been =
returned. Franz was shown the piano and indeed found it to be =
spectacular. Franz passed that information on to Vladamir Horowitz (sp?) =
who in turn stopped in to give a look-see at the now-infamous piano. He =
was thrilled with it and requested that Steinway sell it to him and he =
put it in his living room.

So, let's see. What is the moral of this story? If you have a 1/4-inch =
reverse crown Steinway soundboard, or a Baldwin with "the most =
pronounced compression ridges I have ever seen in a one-year old grand =
of alleged repute", or any one or more of a number of maladies that =
might afflict a new piano - consider yourself LUCKY - it might actually =
be a one-of-a-kind gem - in fact, it probably is. Remember - "every =
piano is unique". I wonder if they also get birth certificates?

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----=20
From: <bases-loaded@juno.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 8:24 PM
Subject: compression ridges in New Baldwin grand


> Greetings -
>=20
> I serviced a one-year old Baldwin "Artist Grand" - model 225E - today. =

> They got the two free tunings from the dealer and trhought it time to
> tune it again and "have me look it over" (now that they've had it a
> year!).  The touch was incredibly light, but that is why they chose =
it,
> so I made little comment.  In fact, the piano was rather nice, all =
things
> considered, except that the soundboard had the most pronounced
> compression ridges I have ever seen in a one-year old grand of alleged
> repute.  And they occurred at virtually every edge joint.  Very
> pronounced to the touch, and highly visible at a casual glance. =20
>=20
> My question is this:  In the absence of any tonal problems, no cracks, =
no
> buzzes, no killer octave problems (yet), at what point do you consider
> this an issue that should be brought up with the dealer/manufacturer?  =
I
> am quite concerned that this soundboard is in an accelerated
> self-destruct mode, and hate to see the customer have to find that out
> 3-4-5 years down the road, but I can hear the dealer denying any =
problems
> with it as we speak.
>=20
> Any opinions?
>=20
> Mark Potter
> bases-loaded@juno.com
>  =20
> _______________________________________________
> pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
> 
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