Hi,
I know little to nothing about pianos but my wife is keen to learn so we have been shopping.
A local piano store has a used Baldwin Hamilton studio, about 20 yrs old but in (as far as I know) very nice condition. The woodwork finish is almost as new.
The serial number is 465991.
The only thing I did notice is that the felt on the hammers does have some notches worn into them. This is apparently normal and according to the salesman they still have plenty of life. I would like to know if there is any rule of thumb as to how much wear is acceptable here. Wish I had the foresight to take a photo of the hammers.
They have this piano listed at $2500 and I was thinking to make a somewhat lower offer if I feel comfortable with it's condition.

Thanks in advance for any insights, advice, John

Grooved hammers, which tend to also be packed down very hard, give the piano a certain sound characteristic that you might actually like. I rented a piano of that same vintage with pretty serious a hammer wear and rather enjoyed the overtone-y, rather glassy sound of the midrange and treble register (it did not do any favors for the sound of the bass strings, alas). So if you dig the sound as-is I guess that's no big deal. But I certainly would not buy a piano for that kind of money figuring it needed hammer refurbishment in order to sound like I wanted.

Hi John, and welcome to the Piano World Forums!

The Baldwin 243 Studio upright is a popular model piano; they are especially popular with schools, churches, and other institutional settings. And, there are apparently a lot of them out there. I have an early 1980’s model that I bought from a local college surplus sale a few months ago, and I like it a lot.

Based on the serial number, your prospect is a late 1980’s or early 1990’s model… the Bluebookofpianos website only goes up to 1982 with the last number being 366819 (Look under “Hamilton” for the Baldwin upright piano serial #’s). The serial # on my Baldwin 243 upright is 385316.

The salesman is right about the string groves to an extent. However, the depth of the strings groves is an indication of how much it was played. How much is too much, or the extent of wear can only be determined by a piano technician, or someone very familiar with pianos.

The asking price is not unusual from a used piano retailer, but still a little high in my book. Some of the dealers here don’t like it when prices are discussed, and I’ve been scolded a time or two by dealer-members here for offering my opinion on prices. So, I’ll not say any more about the price.

Good luck and keep us informed!

Rick

The price seems a little high, but it's a nice piano from what I've heard, and it should be a fine starter piano for you. If the hammers still have a roughly round/oval shape, without being too flat on where it hits the strings, it should still have plenty of life in them.

For what is worth I got a 77 or so Hamilton 243 and when play with the lid open the sound is amazing to my piano-noob ears. So much that I stopped drooling at the 4-7" baby grand I wanted first and now I am looking maybe at a 5-7" to see if I can get an improvement yet when I go back home, the Hamilton just sounds so nice that my desire to get a baby grand (within my limited budget) goes down.

You are right about the sound of the Baldwin with the lid/front panel open. It does sound rich and full, similar to a baby grand. My 243 has lots of sustain too... don't know if that's good or bad, but I like to soak it all up with my ears before it fades!

Rick

Thanks everyone for all the replies, exactly the kind of information I was looking for. I will not be the one learning to play but still I really liked the looks of the Baldwin and the sound was nice to my untrained ears.
We're still not decided which way she wants to go with this (she's also considering a Yamaha electric piano) but I would now feel comfortable haggling for the Baldwin if it comes to that.
Thanks again, John