Baldwin

[Keith McGavern]

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At 11:07 AM -0400 10/15/04, lgulli2586 wrote:
>I need some help or suggestions. For the past few years I have 
>been tuning a Hamilton Baldwin 125th anniversary piano in a church 
>in Southern Ontario Canada. Its 48 inches. I go for Easter Christmas 
>etc. It is the most unstable rascal I have ever dealt with. Budget 
>restrictions forbid a Damp-Chaser, even though I explained long term 
>benefits in stability and savings. They wondered about other pianos 
>of this type and thought it might be the piano. I even offered to 
>let them get another tuner and see if it makes a differance. Maybe I 
>am missing something.....any input or ideas, gratefully received.

Dear Richard,

Aside from extreme environment circumstances, every once in a while 
there comes a piano that belies description when it comes to staying 
in tune. I have one such piano as you describe located in a church 
where I have been allowed to tune it once a year for the last 20 + 
years. It also happens to be a Baldwin Hamilton, '70s' era.

What I eventually discovered was this particular Hamilton required an 
absolute rendering of the strings and setting of the pins to achieve 
any sense of stability, something not readily achieved in one visit. 
It was extremely stubborn and resistant.

In the beginning I was always returning the piano to A440 and walking 
away feeling I'd done an excellent job. Each following year on the 
next tuning I discovered a piano where the unisons were way out of 
tune, beyond reason so to speak.

Since the environment was well within reason, I had to examine my own 
abilities more closely.

So I started float the pitch some and only address the most obvious 
corrections in the tuning. Over the years now I don't mess with 
changing the entire piano's pitch location, but rather correct the 
notes that I somehow wasn't able to render and set.

The piano now sounds far more reasonable overall when I arrive for 
the next tuning.

Sincerely,

Keith


-- 
Keith McGavern
Registered Piano Technician
Oklahoma Chapter 731
Piano Technicians Guild
USA

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