Friends, I ran into a new one today. Inside, the grand piano looked for all the world like a Kawai, complete with the decal, emblem on the plate, plate configuration, and it claimed to be a model 550-C, serial 557975. On the fallboard was written Howard (which I know is a Baldwin name) and in the lower right corner "built specially for Baldwin by Kawai, Japan." According to Pierce it was made in 1971. So what do we have here? Was it really built any differently for Baldwin, or was just the name on the fallboard changed? I never knew Kawai ever built pianos for Baldwin. BTW, it also had a serious loose tuning pin problem in the bass and a few others here and there, if that has anything to do with anything. Regards, Clyde Hollinger, RPT Lititz, PA, USA
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