Baldwin 6000

[Ron Nossaman]

> Anybody have an opinion on the Baldwin 6000 (looks like a 52" or so 
> upright)?  An aquaintance told me he was considering buying one--saying 
> it had gotten excellent reviews (?)...I didn't ask him from whom.   
> Personally, Baldwins have never been a favorite of mine, do these new 
> ones have the really tight tuning pins?  Could anyone speak to the 
> quality?  Does it have one of those goofy painted actions?

I have no idea what Baldwin is doing to pinblocks or actions 
these days, but I would not expect any improvement in pin 
torque ranges or uniformity. We don't have a surviving Baldwin 
dealer in the area, so I haven't seen a new one in some time. 
As far as the 6000 generally though, there are a few specific 
design things. The bass is very unusual. In most pianos, the 
strike point ratio goes from something like 1/16 - 1/12 in the 
top end, tapering to around 1/8 somewhere in the middle, and 
continuing that 1/8 clear through the bass. The 6000 continues 
the ratio progression all through the low tenor and bass, down 
to around 1/5 at A-0. People either like the result, or don't, 
but most everyone notices it's different. The other thing is 
the "tone extender", an aerospace brass mass load, on the low 
tenor bridge end.

I kind of like the sound.

Ron N