[pianotech] D H Baldwin Manufacturer

Court Stewart calexste at gmail.com
Thu Sep 24 16:50:23 MDT 2009


Hi, Ken.

So the plot thickens:

As my salesman friend remembers it, Baldwin started using Samick in '88. He
remembers it because that's when he started with Baldwin and they were just
rolling out the Samick-made grands. He also recalled that at some point DH's
were made by Yamaha, Kawai (as the "Howard" line), Wurlitzer (before
acquisition), and of course Young Chang.  And that was *before* things
started getting crazy!

Just out of curiosity, did you look behind the keybed (exterior), under the
piano, left side (right side if facing the keyboard)?  I remember seeing
manufacturer stickers there on some of those DH's.

Good Luck!
Court Stewart

PS - This might help:

>From the archives:
http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/2008-September/227409.html

  Alan,

  The Howard C-171 was built for Baldwin by Samick in Korea. This
model was also known as a D.H. Baldwin model C-170 or a Wurlitzer
model C-172. They're just a basic 5'7" grand in a poly finish. As
someone mentioned, given the available price for Chinese grands,
Indonesian grands, etc. that can be sold new with a warranty, you need
to look closely at this one to see what your market will bear before
you sink the bucks into it.

  I hope this helps,

  Allan
  Allan Gilreath, RPT





On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 1:23 PM, Court Stewart <calexste at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, that should clear it up!  :)
>
> Sorry, Ken, I wrote that at 3:00am last night/this morning and looking back
> over my comment, it's kind of ambiguous.  I worked for Baldwin's Atlanta
> showroom in the late 90's, but they were only selling Wurlitzers at that
> time (no DH's).  They had 3 models: a C-143, -153 and -173.  At least, I
> think the letter was "C".  I'm pretty sure about the numbers, tho!  These
> were Samicks and I was under the impression that the switch from Young Chang
> had happened just a year or two before I started there.  Dean and Paul have
> given me second thoughts on this.
>
> I just wrote to a friend who did sales there for many years -- I think
> he'll have a more definitive answer as to the timeline.  Have you checked
> Fine's books?  Mine aren't up-to-date.
>
> -Court Stewart
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 9:08 AM, Ken & Pat Gerler <
> kenneth.gerler at prodigy.net> wrote:
>
>>  I should have added the serial number - 57548 which would make it around
>> 1990 if in one of the Young Chang factories - Inchon.  It would make sense
>> to me that companies would not have "parallel" serial numbering systems for
>> separate named products in a factory. Samick was using 2 or 3 alpha
>> characters in their serial numbering system at that time.  The PianoDisc
>> system serial number (W05960050) makes the manufacture date prior to 1996.
>>
>> Ken Gerler
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>  *From:* Dean May <deanmay at pianorebuilders.com>
>> *To:* pianotech at ptg.org
>> *Sent:* Thursday, September 24, 2009 5:37 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: [pianotech] D H Baldwin Manufacturer
>>
>>  I’m pretty sure it is a Samick. I sold against them when I was selling
>> Young Chang product.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Dean*
>>
>> Dean May             cell 812.239.3359
>>
>> PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272
>>
>> Terre Haute IN  47802
>>
>>
>>  ------------------------------
>>
>> *From:* pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] *On
>> Behalf Of *Ken & Pat Gerler
>> *Sent:* Thursday, September 24, 2009 12:41 AM
>> *To:* pianotech at ptg.org
>> *Subject:* [pianotech] D H Baldwin Manufacturer
>>
>>
>>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I service a C-172 DH Baldwin 5' 8" Grand today (with a PianoDisc system
>> installed). I looked all over to see where it was manufactured but I did not
>> find any kind of marking. I suspect it was built by Young Chang for
>> Baldwin??? Anyone know?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Ken Gerler
>>
>>
>
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