I must admit, I have "PAS" as well.. I remember you having a Yamaha g2, but it was newer.. how does the R compare to it? great deal btw..

Piano Acquisition Syndrome.

It's where you have the following equation firmly established in your subconcious.

X=n+1

where x = the ideal number of pianos you should have in your possession at any time

and

n = the number of pianos you currently possess.

Forrest

As far as how it compares to the G2, I'd say I like this one better. I preferred the upper treble on the G2 (maybe the Baldwin could be voiced up there; I don't know), but everything else on this one is much nicer. I do also need to get some regulation done on the action, but other than that I have no complaints.

Obviously I have not heard the piano so what I'm about to say is based on generalities (along with some rather extensive experience with Baldwin):

Baldwins are not Yamahas. Much as Baldwin's misguided management wanted them to, Baldwin grands did not—and should not—sound like similarly-sized Yamaha grands. When fitted with appropriate hammers—and the old “Renner Blue” hammers Baldwin insisted on using were not appropriate to their scaling—should have a big, rich and warm sound that is well-balanced across the compass of the keyboard.

After Baldwin stopped pressing its own hammers they switched to a hammer type that was too dense and too heavy for the scaling of the smaller pianos. Heavy hammers are counter-productive in the upper tenor and treble. They produce a lot of hammer knock but less real “tone” than is usually desirable. So someone comes along and tries to brighten them up; usually by chemically hardening them. This doesn’t change the hammer knock problem but it might make the voice “brighter” by virtue of generating a little more energy in the higher partials. But it won’t be a pleasant sound and so, when the next voicer comes along they try to improve the tone by needling the hammers down some. And back and forth we go and where we stop nobody knows!

Bring in someone who really understands hammers. You might be able to improve the performance of the hammers you have simply by removing some of their mass. I can assure you with reasonable confidence that if you try to brighten things up by chemically hardening the hammers that are there now the resulting sounds will become increasingly unpleasant.

ddf

Yep, sure did.

Knowing the piece, I understand exactly what you are saying. Once it has been regulated, it would be great to hear your evaluation of both voice and touch.

One question, however. Is is the the basic sound which you notice on top, or is it a matter of some judicious voicing to make it more even?

Sam, trust your skill as a pianist. In the clip, the big R.H. chords were beautifully voiced, and I mean that from the pianistic definition and not the technical term. The 'sparkle' on top is beautifully executed.

Thanks for that information Del! I don't think I'm going to have anything done to the hammers. I think they are the original hammers that were put in in 1978, and they have very little wear. As far as you not having heard the piano, since you're already here, you CAN listen to it! I posted a couple recordings a couple posts up (the one with the pictures). I'd love to hear your professional opinion after listening to those. I've never interacted with you directly on this forum, but I love reading your posts, so thanks for coming here to this thread and posting (a pleasant and unexpected surprise!).

I don't think I played them all that well in this clip, but I appreciate the compliments anyway. I'm trying to get my playing up to a level that I'm satisfied with, but, alas, it has not happened yet.

This piano would also have had Pratt, Read or Pratt, Win (both equally bad) wippens. Whoever is regulating the action needs to pay attention to the friction at the repetition lever center—making sure it is high enough. If this friction at this center is too low it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to regulate hammer drop and rise.

If you have the opportunity to replace the wippens the newer, single-spring wippens by Renner or Wessel, Nickel & Gross (my current favorite) should be a noticeable improvement over the original.

ddf

In 1978, they would have been wippens of the Baldwin design, with the single spring with a loop in the middle going from the repetition lever to jack. Baldwin did not buy Pratt Read from Sohmer until at least the mid-1980s. Pratt Read may have made the parts for Baldwin earlier than the buyout.

I get jealous the more I read this thread.. If you bought this in socal, then I totally missed out.. Unless it was not a public sale.oh well, ill be on the lookout.