Baldwin Corfam Butts and Backchecks

[Kevin E. Ramsey]

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Gordon, that's great. I'm glad it happened to you.
Kevin.
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Gordon Holley=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Monday, April 21, 2003 11:24 AM
  Subject: Baldwin Corfam Butts and Backchecks


  List and Fellow Technicians
  I'll preface this with ALWAYS BE ON YOUR TOES, YOU NEVER KNOW WHO IS=20
  IN ANOTHER ROOM LISTENING.
  I tuned a Baldwin Hamilton Studio Console, 1982, this past Saturday=20
  morning for a neighbor.  He had already told me that it hadn't been=20
  tuned in some years and that there was also something wrong with it,=20
  some kind of a clicking sound.
  I opened the top, took off the front, sat down and played about 32=20
  bars of "Over The Rainbow" softly and didn't take long to determine=20
  it was muchly out of tune and I did hear the clicking.  I had already=20
  told Bob that it very likely would need a pitch raise, so I got my=20
  SAT III on and tuned and proceeded to make 6 checks on all the "A's".=20
  A6 through A3 were about 39.5 cents flat and A3 through A0 were about=20
  59.5 cents flat. =20
  All this time Bob, the owner, was sitting in the living room and=20
  watching and listening; "Yes Bob, I'll need to do a pitch raise",=20
  "that's fine, we'll be in the kitchen with our daughter and son-in-
  law".
  I started tuning and still listening for the clicking and trying to=20
  remember what I had read on the list about Baldwin actions.  The more=20
  I strained the brain cells, and continued the pitch raise, the more I=20
  "stewed" about what "had I read, what was the subject?".
  I continued on for about 15 minutes and was aware that someone had=20
  walked into the livingroom and was standing a little behind me=20
  listening and watching.
  I finally turned around and the son-in-law steps up and hands me his=20
  business card and introduces himself, "Hi Gordon, I'm Sam Eberwein, I=20
  used to work for Baldwin when this piano was build and sold to Bob,=20
  but I left Baldwin and I now work for Steinway.  I'm District Manager=20
  for Northern Indiana and into the Chicago area, mind if I sit down I=20
  want to show you something?". ("Hell no, I'm going to learn=20
  something")
  He then asked if I was familiar with Corfam?, "That's the product=20
  name I was trying to remember, Yes, I remember now the discussions on=20
  the list about clicking noises and Corfam".
  Then he proceeded to tell me about the use of Corfam on the butts=20
  and back catchers, and after 12 to 13 years, then Baldwin discovered=20
  the problems.  He told me he had left Baldwin some years back before=20
  the purchase by Gibson and knew that there was no way that there=20
  would be any warranty coverage now by Gibson.=20
  "So, tell me, how would you remove the Corfam and replace with=20
  buckskin?".
  Apparently the "Brain Gods" were with me and I remembered what Joe=20
  Garrett had recently written in a thread "The proper kit for=20
  replacing Corfam is :Real buckskin, Hide glue, a sharp knife and=20
  lotsa time". I had remembered other participants talking about this=20
  problem going back into 1996 and was sure I'd find all I needed in=20
  the archives, "And brother I sure did, all this morning". =20
  This Corfam was the light brown and hard, under the butt, when the=20
  jack bounced back after let-off, it tapped on the hard corfam.  Could=20
  not detect any click at the backchecks, and they had the corfam also.=20
   Sam explained, that at the time the corfam was used, buckskin was=20
  difficult to get.  (I guess he should know)
  Sam asked me to describe the procedure to replace the butts corfam=20
  with buckskin, and having recently replaced the buckskin on 88=20
  "Kimball" type knuckles on my grand, having plenty of buckskin=20
  leftover, had the Olfa cutter and self-healing board, lots of hot-
  hide glue crystals, lots of wall-paper remover, I walked through what=20
  I believed it would take.
  Sam sat there nodding his head approvingly and then asked if $500=20
  would cover the labor intensive procedure.  "Yes, I would think so,=20
  said I".  "Dad, do you want to make that investment in this piano=20
  now"?.  "The piano is probably now worth about $2300".
  Well, it was decided that Dad and Mom would think this over.
  With the pitch raise and a double pass fine tuning completed Sam=20
  asked me to give him some of my business cards and proceeded to ask=20
  if I knew "Doyle, at Goshen College, did I know this technician or=20
  that one, was I a member of the PTG?".
  Next time he would be visiting Bob and Anne he'd bring along a stack=20
  of Steinway information and specifications. =20
  "And by the way that was a good tuning, says Sam, but Bob, it will=20
  probably be a little out of tune  in an hour or so", and explained=20
  that the piano should be tuned again in another 3 months, and that=20
  this was a sever pitch raise".   He told Dad that he recommends=20
  tuning 4 times a year on Steinways. =20
  Sure would be nice to have a guy like this along with me every time=20
  I run into this kind of a piano, ya know "Baldwins".  I tune other=20
  Hamiltons and had not paid much attention to clicking noises, I sure=20
  will in the future, but then, neither had the owners.
  Well, my fellow technicians, always be on your toes, hope that you=20
  don't have a senior moment when your called on, particularly by=20
  someone that could delve into more technical info than your brain=20
  cells could store at the moment.=20
  I only wanted to share this with you all and thank this list for=20
  "being there when you need help".
  My Regards,

  Gordon Holley
  Goshen, IN
  Associate Member
  Indiana Chapter 467



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