Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum I love my CCM piano!

Hi everyone!

Last December I posted a question about a Starr grand that I was considering. Well, that was NOT destined to become my piano. Instead, after talking with Sally Phillips and taking a nice trip (well aside from the little blizzard we drove through) up to Cincinnati to Premier Pianos, I became the new owner of a 1968 Baldwin L that used to live at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. If you live anywhere in the region and have a chance to go look at these pianos, Greg Kottmann is really very nice and I think they are still selling these CCM pianos.

I finally found time to write up my story and post some pictures. You can see some of them here: perpetual piano. Scroll way down to see the pictures.

I'm hoping to get some pictures posted from cleaning up the action, too. My husband took a bunch of pictures of the keys and hammers while we had them out of the piano. It was very interesting! Here's one of the pictures I have a link to:

I almost forgot -- here's a recording I made on my new piano (Zoom H2) about two weeks ago:

Danza de la moza donosa

The recording level was a little low, but I think I have that worked out now.

To admin: Do I need to post this in member recordings or is this okay since it's related to the piano post?

Great story. I am glad you like your Baldwin. I have probably played on this instrument as I practiced a lot at CCM's memorial hall. I only wonder in what room that grand sat.... They seem to be indestructible, and with the right loving care and attention towards the action and other crucial parts you shall be happy with it for a long time.

This one has a tiny chip out of the front right corner of the keytop on D above 3rd-space treble C. It doesn't seem to have been played much at all, even though it is 41 years old. Everything (well it needs some new strings) is in pretty good shape. The rack on the music desk is damaged on the left side, but with books opened up on it you can barely tell.

Do you remember a piano with any of those characteristics?

I wonder if this piano might have been in a teaching studio (instrumental or vocal, but not the piano studios). It's just so thrilling to have a well-maintained piano here. Love seeing it as I walk down the stairs in the morning.

Congratulations on your find. Arrival day is so exciting... but, I hate it. I can't watch. Just seeing yours on the ramp makes me nervous!

Thanks! And, yes, this is why my husband took the pictures and not me. I was in the house, not looking!

Hmmm... the one chip sounds familiar... but then, almost all Baldwins had chips in all possible places. It's impossible to tell. It might have been in a studio.

Great story and pictures. It's always a pleasure to hear that someone has found an instrument they really love. I'm sure you'll enjoy playing — and teaching on? — your beautiful new piano!

I was really amazed by the total lack of chips in the ivory keys of one of the 7-foot Baldwins! It was beautiful. I think this one was in Elizabeth Pridinoff's studio. I hope I spelled her name right . . . Whoever buys that piano will have a real gem.

Too bad my little studio can't fit a 7' piano. It was all I could manage to squeeze this one into the corner. I feel bad about it being next to the window, but after I sell the console piano it can move to the middle of the room, perhaps.

Baldwins are just excellent for serious piano people.

congrats on having a piano you love.

I almost didn't open this thread, as I didn't know what a CCM piano was.

Glad I did. If Apple commented, I read!

Yup, nice old Baldwin grands are a soft spot in my heart. I taught at a few Baldwin Studios in the 70's/80's and often got to play their grands when there was time. We also had recitals on them. ;-)

You lucked out with Sally Phillips too! Looking forward to the new pics and blog.

Oh, and one more thing in common. I love Danza de la Moza Donoza! Did you ever hear the story about it? PM me if you want info.

Have you yet discovered the Teaching Forum part of PW? Nice group of teachers over there.

Enjoy your new old Baldwin!

Congratulations on purchasing your new grand piano, MsAdrienne.

I know the feeling of owning a grand piano for the first time. I also enjoyed your Youtube channel!

I am sure it was played by many serious and deserving pianists during its life... I wish you many happy hours of playing on your instrument.

Congratulations on your new piano, MsAdrienne! I enjoyed your blog and moving photos, too, though my favorite photo was the shot you posted above with the keys sitting loose--it's not your run of the mill piano photo.

Monica,

That's actually my hand in the "key" picture. The first thing I did was take it completely apart and clean the keybed and action. It was really a fun afternoon, especially with Adrienne's two darling children "helping".

The cutest thing was her daughter who is about 4, I think. I was tuning and she was right behing me matching the pitch. At first I thought, "Wow, what a weird harmonic, sympathetic buzz thing going on here". I was just about to start crawling around to see what was going on and realized that it was the little munchkin behind me singing the sound.

The piano fits perfectly in her house. The trip was a blast! A sea of pianos in a huge warehouse. At least it was heated. We got caught in a mini blizzard but fortunately it abated just as we started back home.

Sally

Nice - Greg is a very nice guy, very knowledgeable and very good at educating customers rather than just selling them. My dad might have sold CCM that piano, and my daughter is in a prep acting program there now. Glad to hear good things about all concerned. That includes Sally who I think is tops.

Thank you everyone, for your congratulatory replies! I'm having a lot of fun with this piano so far. Sally is great. I am learning so much about the "care and feeding" of my new instrument. I got to help clean the action. It was quite a project!

I am uploading some new pictures and will post a few more here shortly, after I go pick up the 4-year-old from preschool and we buy her some new shoes.

Sally ~ say, I still have your red screwdriver and those wedges. Let me know when you'll be in my neighborhood again. The tuning is holding really well through these temp and humidity shifts. I am AMAZED.

Here are a few more pictures.

That chipped key! See it? It's 2nd white key in the diagonal set:


The piano case with no keys:


My 4-y.o. in the background. That's my hand there (actually, so's the one in the pic in the original post):


I should save some pictures for my blog, with more descriptions. But happy to post here if you like them. My husband was having fun with this. Hard to take a bad photo of a piano, you know?

your hand looks alot like mine!

That's neat! I wonder how piano-playing "shapes" the hand over the years, if at all. Wouldn't it be funny to have a hand matching photo contest, LOL.

You're not kidding about the drastic weather changes we're having here... we went from temps in the mid 70s on Sunday to snowing all day today?!?!

Keep the photos coming... I just set the other one you posted of all the keys as my computer desktop background. Very dramatic!