Baldwin 6000

[Delwin D Fandrich]

pianoman wrote:

> Hi All,
> This is a question about the above.  I have heard and tuned several of
> these and along with others describe them as having an "enlarged booming
> bass".  These pianos would sell better if the bass was not so out of
> proportion with the rest of the piano.  Does anyone know why the bass
> stands out so much in this model?  Does anyone know if anything has been
> done to stifle the bass some?  Does anyone have a different opinion of this
> piano.  I must say that this is my only complaint of the instrument.
> James Grebe

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James,

The Baldwin 6000 does have a fairly long bass string scale, but what you are probably
hearing is the effect of the rather unusual hammer strike point ratio chosen for the
piano.

Most pianos of "modern" design use a hammer strike point on the string that starts out
somewhere around 1/12th to 1/15th of the speaking length at C-88 and extends out to
apporxomately 1/8 of the speaking length somewhere around the middle of the scale.
Sometimes this ratio varies from as close as 1/8.5 to as far as 1/7.5. But they all pretty
much fall within that range. They will then continue to use that strike point ratio
through the rest of the scale. Depending on how carefully the scale was laid out, there
may or may not be a jog across the bass/tenor break. There shouldn't be one, but sometimes
there is.

The Baldwin 6000 continues to stretch out the strike point through to the end of the bass
section, ending up with the hammer striking the string at 1/5th of the speaking length at
A-1.

Del