<div>I hadn't heard that Mason & Hamlin, Charles Walter, Astin-Weight, and I'm certain I missed some had stopped production of grand pianos here in the US. Perhaps Baldwin knows something we don't, or maybe they are being misleading? Naw Baldwin wouldn't do that.</div>
<div>Laying off 34 workers, most probably the ones making the most and therefore the most knowledgable and skilled sounds like a typical "corporate" decision. It's called saving the company money and to h__l with the quality of the instrument!</div>
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<div>We've seen this corporate model at work before Kimball was purchased by a furniture company back in the '60's and the corporate feeling was, if we can build furniture, we can build pianos! So they dumped the highly paid, skilled piano men and their pianos began the long spiral toward the end, as the cabinet's looks and quality began to far outweigh the quality, musicality or playability of the instrument. They had a golden opportunity when they purchased Bosendorfer to LEARN something but squandered it using hints at something resembling Bosie quality with their Vienese edition but never actually accomplishing it. So when they announced cessation of piano production some 9 or was it 10 years ago we all rejoiced even though we knew we would be working on this crap for the rest of our working lives.</div>
<div>Of course there were others who went more quietly and with less fanfare, just quietly going bankrupt, Aeolien, Story & Clark, Kohler & Cambell and many others.</div>
<div>So now it will be Baldwins turn to struggle for a while and then decide to go back to basics and build real pianos without propsticks that look like guitar necks or go all Chinese built or just quit altogether, it's always interesting to watch how history repeats itself and how they just never seem to learn from the other guy's mistakes or successes.</div>
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<div>Mike</div>
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<div>-- <br>We have enough youth, how about a fountain of SMART?<br>Michael Magness<br>Magness Piano Service<br>608-786-4404<br><a href="http://www.ifixpianos.com/" target="_blank">www.IFixPianos.com</a><br>email <a href="mailto:mike@ifixpianos.com" target="_blank">mike@ifixpianos.com</a> </div>