Baldwin termination bars

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Fred,
              The early termination pieces were made of mild steel., They 
had the problem of grooving over a period of time with just the abrasion of 
tuning.  Remove them resurface the profile.  Heat to a dull cheery red and 
quench in a bucket of water.  Better yet take them to a good 
machinist/backsmith, and have him case harden them.
The newer terminations are case hardened, and had a new profile (radius) 
plus if you look carefully you will see they are different lengths. so as 
to be detuned from the fundamental.

Regards Roger


At 09:37 AM 6/12/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>         A colleague of mine (not subscribed to the list) has a problem 
> with a Baldwin concert grand in his care. It is a "modern design" Baldwin 
> - plate suspension system, acujust hitch pins, front termination system - 
> but an early version. Specifically, instead of individual "termination 
> units" (or whatever Baldwin calls them) for each unison, there is a 
> composite section for each of the upper treble sections. (Here a moment 
> of doubt enters my brain. I don't work on very many Baldwin grands, but 
> my impression is that every one I have seen has individual units for each 
> unison. Maybe my recollection is faulty. If so, please correct me, 
> somebody). By termination unit, I am referring to the substitute for capo 
> and v-bar, which terminates the speaking length and provides a duplex 
> segment as well.
>         The problem my colleague has described to me seems to be linked 
> to one of the termination sections. The symptom is a "zingy" sound, and 
> it is present in all but the last 2 to 3 notes of the section (the lower 
> of the two). Other potential sources of this noise seem to have been 
> eliminated from possibility.
>         THe "zing" phenomenon was present previously to some extent, but 
> suddenly (overnight, according to the owner, who is an accomplished and 
> dedicated pianist - recording artist and performer) it got much worse. 
> After trying a wide range of potential cures (none successful), my 
> colleague tightened the allen screws which attach the unit to the plate. 
> He said every one could be turned a bit, some quite a bit. THis didn't 
> eliminate the problem, but it made a marked improvement.
>         From the foregoing (and a lot of additional detail I am 
> omitting), it seems pretty clear that there is some problem with this 
> "termination section." The owner can't do without the piano for some 
> months, so further examination will be put off. It will probably involve 
> lowering tension of that section, quite likely removing those strings and 
> the the termination section and examining it.
>         Does this ring any bells for any of you. I am thinking Baldwin 
> would have had a good reason for changing from sectional units to 
> individual ones for each unison (if I am right that they did this). IOW, 
> they had warrantee problems. Did they develop cracks? If so, how would 
> one deal with them? Any feedback and suggestions would be most appreciated.
>         I should add that this instrument has been through a lot. It was 
> a touring concert instrument for many years, and could have suffered any 
> number of jars and drops over time. And the musician, though not by any 
> means destitute, is also not rolling in cash. So really major things like 
> plate replacement would not be in the cards.
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
>University of New Mexico
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