[CAUT] Baldwin SD

[Avery Todd]

Jim,

At 10:32 AM 4/1/2006, you wrote:
>Hi Avery,
>
>What's the other end look like? Downbearing,

With just a rocker gauge, good.

>bridge, etc.?

Fine, no cracks. Soundboard, ditto.

>Did you buy it yet?

Not yet. The head of our piano dept. was going to try and get out there
sometime this weekend to play it.

Avery

>Jim busby BYU
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
>Avery Todd
>Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2006 8:09 AM
>To: caut at ptg.org
>Subject: [CAUT] Baldwin SD
>
>List,
>
>I put this on the pianotech list Saturday PM but so far have only had
>1 response. I also want to pick anyone's brain on this list who might
>have knowledge of this problem and/or the best way to correct it.
>Thanks.
>
>Avery Todd
>University of Houston
>
>
>Do any of you have any direct experience with an SD-6 #118127 (1952 I
>was told)? My atlas is
>at the university.
>
>Today, I went to look at one for sale at a store at a good price. For
>several years, we've been
>needing one to put into our large orchestra/band rehearsal hall to
>avoid having to move one into there from our major performance hall
>for rehearsals of big concertos.
>
>It's been refinished and had new hammers (Renner Blues, I think)
>installed on the old shanks.
>Graphited knuckles, etc. Anyway, I'm not worried about all that.
>That, I can handle.
>
>My question is, there is a tone problem in the middle agraffe
>section. (It's so hard to describe sounds in an e-mail.) The dealer
>kept saying he thought it was primarily a hammer fitting/string
>leveling problem. Yes, there is some of that that needs to be done.
>But I believe it's a problem in the agraffes themselves. This isn't a
>hammer fitting type of sound. It's a distorted/zinging kind of sound.
>Like a termination problem or something not seated well. There are
>some agraffes that are not parallel to the strings and I first
>thought that was the problem. But there are also some with that same
>sound where the agraffes are lined up correctly. I'm assuming it
>probably came that way from the factory. And it's only in that one
>section. I didn't have my tools with me because I didn't expect
>anything like that to come up, so I couldn't even experiment a
>little. You don't really notice it all that much when just normally
>playing it. Just when playing each note individually. Especially with
>a little power.
>
>The piano has never been restrung. Even still has the aluminum
>wrapped type upper bass strings. But it sounds great. A BIG bass
>sound! Decent sustain. The only real problem is in that one area.
>Have any of you run across this? Can the agraffes be straightened a
>little without removing the strings? My semi-educated guess is that
>that section is going to have to be restrung with new agraffes. Or at
>least, "redone" agraffes. They did buff the tops of them, though. :-)
>
>This is pre-accujust hitch pins and from the first treble break down,
>has one single-tie string on each unison. The tech at the store said
>they could correct the problem, which I would prefer to have done
>before we buy it but I was wondering if any of you had any ideas? The
>dealer said he'd pay me to do the regulation & voicing. Which it needs.
>
>Am I on the right track about the agraffes? Thanks.