Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum No resistance whatsoever!

I'm afraid I've become disappointed with my used piano purchase of a year ago. I bought a 1998 Baldwin Classic upright. Beautiful looking, tone was what I was looking for, well maintained and a good price. All the things I was looking for. However, in the past year, through taking piano lessons and being probably in the intermediate to late intermediate level, (I took lessons years ago, too) I've come to realize my piano has no resistance at all which makes it extremely hard to express ANYTHING and is hurting my learning technique. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Or is it time to sell and move on?

Not so fast. Please describe what you mean with no resistance. Are the keys so easy to play they feel more like an electric keyboard ? Where did you buy this piano from - private party- dealer ? Did it play well at first with resistance ? Has it gotten worse over time ?

The best thing you can do is to hire an experienced, competent tech who has worked on Baldwins. You may have a number of things going on such as over-eased keys, worn keybushings,
loose action center pins, weak jack return springs, weak damper return springs. The environment the piano has been subjected to in the past and present could also be a factor. At this time of year things get looser because the humidity is lower.

You need to have a THOROUGH evaluation and a proposal done. I would not give up on the piano until you have all the facts.


One other thought
There are many differences between verticals and grand pianos and you may need to move up to a grand to get all of the things you are looking for. You will have to weigh the cost of improving the Baldwin against moving up to a grand

Jimbob, maybe resistance isn't the right word. The touch of the key is too much like a keyboard. I'm not sure I paid attention to this when I purchased it. I've since learned the importance of a stiffer action. I did have a tech check the piano out prior to purchase (from a private party).

Upright is a vauge term. Spinet or console? Like physical exercise in anything the more you do it the stronger you get. I doubt the piano has become weaker, you've become stronger. Plus you may naturally a stonger player. Everybody's touch is different. Be happy! The Muses are telling you to trade up into a solid studio or grand. Go to your local Yamaha, Kawai, Petrof, whatever dealer and pound on a few, see what turns you on.

Your lack of resistance may be excessive lost motion, which is from the time you depress the key to the time that the key engages with the pianos mechicnism - which if the case can be adjusted.

Some pianos are leveraged better than others. What is your key dip and hammer blow distance?Lack of mass adds to the light feel. You can change your touch weight up to 17 grams by strengthening the hammer spring. Or move the rail up so the spring is in the correct spot on the butt. I prefer to leave the spring set just strong enough to give the hammer the proper rebound from the string. The jack spring in a 1998
is probably ok.
So if your downweight is still low, add some lead. In this case I would put it on the wippen. This will help repetition and avoid up coming friction problems that will slow up the wippen drop.

kpiano

Thanks, everyone, for your help.

Sam: I have a console. I tend to agree with you - I've become stronger. I'm learning the correct way to play and now realize I may have bought the wrong piano. My goal is to get a grand but I wanted to wait a couple of years. Now I'm not so sure about waiting. I may have to find a better upright since the money isn't there yet for a grand.

Brian: Excessive lost motion. I hope that's as simple as it sounds!

Keith: I'm not sure about the key dip and hammer blow distance. According to the spec, it says full blow - direct, designed for faster repetition and greater dynamics which both seem to be lacking! Key length = 16. I wish you were in Wisconsin - you sound like you know what you're talking about!

Looks like I'll need to get my tech out here and see what he says. Thanks again, everyone!

The Baldwin Classic is a lighter guage action than say the Hamilton. I think the keys and keybed are shorter. Kind of a faster, cheaper Baldwin. My guess is that soon you will disatisfied with the depth of tone as well. I dunno how much you paid for it but if the case is good you should get close to your money back sold outright.
Yes, you can weight the keys, wips, strengthen the springs, etc., and those are good stop-gap measures. But my feeling is the handwriting is on the wall. You will be much happier in the long run, if you can possibly afford it, to get into a solid studio. They have great trade value for that dream grand in the future.