<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" = http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2>Brian,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>No.  That was a design by Harold Conklin.  = And it does have some unique design features.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>It does have a fairly long stinging scale for an = upright and it uses a somewhat odd hammer strike point ratio (SPR).  The = more-or-less standard practice with "modern" pianos is to start at C-88 with = a SPR of about 1/12 to 1/16 of the speaking length and taper down to about 1/8 = somewhere near the center of the scale.  It then stays pretty much the same = down through the bass.  The SPR in this piano extends down to 1/5 of the = speaking length at A-1.  And this does, indeed, give the piano = quite an unusual sound.  It is also very much one of those "love-it" or = "hate-it" sort of things.  Those who like it, seem to really like it.  = Those who don't want nothing to do with the piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>The brass weight is an impedance adjustment = device.  It mass-loads the bottom of the tenor bridge to help slow down the rapid = loss of energy to the soundboard that is typical at that point.  The tenor = bridge is much more flexible at its extreme end than it is an octave or two up = -- it is a "bridge., after all.  That means that the mechanical impedance = load felt by the strings is quite a bit lower at the end than it is further up the = scale.  There is typically a significant loss of sustain at the = very end of the bridge compared to that a bit further up the scale.  Some of = the old piano designers attempted to deal with this by dumping tension through = the expedient of curving the bridge in the common hockey stick shape.  = A poor solution, at best.  The weight is a somewhat better notion in that = it allows the string tensions to be kept reasonably constant all the way to = the bottom of the tenor bridge, thus keeping the tone quality somewhat more = uniform across the break.  Baldwin calls it a "Tone-Extender."  Mr = Conklin was actually able to get a patent on the device, though I surely don't know how.  Similar ideas have been used on pianos dating back at least = to the late 1800's.  That's called prior art and it should have precluded = the issuance of the patent, but it didn't.  It would be a pretty tough = one to defend, however.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>-- ddf</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <HR> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: = 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A href="mailto:btrout@desupernet.net" = title=btrout@desupernet.net>Brian Trout</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" title=pianotech@ptg.org>pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, December 02, = 1999 6:08 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Baldwin 6000 full size = upright</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Hi list,</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>I tuned a full size Baldwin upright (about 1 1/2 = years old) on my last stop today.  It was an interesting piano.  The = tuning pins were a little tighter than I would have liked to have had to deal = with, but it tuned quite nicely.  No problems at the breaks.  No = major false string problems, not even in the high treble.  The main = thing that I noticed was that it had a BIG sound.  (It's also a very heavy piano.  There are a lot of small grands that don't weigh as = much... but that's another story.)  </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Does anyone have any input on that big brass = weight through the soundboard down at the bass bridge?  The bass has a big, = rather throaty sound, almost resembling an electronic sound.  I've heard = a few rumblings from time to time about the concept of loading the = soundboard in the area of the bass bridge, perhaps to change impedance?.  But I was = hoping that perhaps someone might have a more reasoned idea of the science = behind this thing.  (Were you involved in designing this thing, = Del?  If so, I'd be interested in any comments you'd like to = share.)</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>I know I often am critical of some of the best = pianos, but I kind of like this one.  I know there will likely be a number of = people who would not like it, and that's ok.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>If anyone has a comment, feel free.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Best wishes to all,</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Brian Trout</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Quarryville, PA</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><A = href="mailto:btrout@desupernet.net">btrout@desupernet.net</A></FONT></D= IV> <DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>