Been posting on here about a 9' Baldwin I am considering

Yesterday I finally got to play it and so far I like it

It has a great touch and the base of course is beyong belief

Talked with the store manager for a while and here is what they will be doing to it

Clean up
Tune
Voice
Needle if needed
Regulation
File the hammers
Replace or work on the bushings

Anything else will be according to what they find after getting into it.

Ordinarily this store refurbishes the case first and does the inner workings second

We decided in my case to do the inner workings first and the case second. I am not worried about the case because I have seen so many others they have redone and they are beautiful.

We verified it is a 1969 9' Baldwin D

He told me they don't have anything in this piano becuase of the trade situation with this University. They won't even place this one on their books until it is sold. Then the school will receive a credit towards their Steinway purchases. That being said they are in the position to offer this one for a very attractive price.

There is from what I have experienced a wealth of knowledge in many of these technicians that get on this site. I greatly appreciate any feedback from those technicians that care to comment. Thanks.

So, it is definitely a contender!

Contender? It sounds like this is definitely your piano. Congratulations, and thanks for the update....

9' U.S. made Baldwins are some of the finest pianos I can remember. [memory getting old... ]

Sounds like a "done deal" to me [logically speaking..]

Congrats in advance!

Norbert

Great! Sounds like fun. I'll never forget this one truly stunning Baldwin 9' I played...

However I'm going to play some devil's advocate. I'd rather you think these things through now than after purchasing. Not trying to discourage the purchase but just some things to consider:

The "work" the dealer wants to do is very minimal IMHO, and is staying clear of anything that costs much money.

"Clean up": a well used term that means almost nothing. So you can cross that off the list of any meaningful work.

"Tune": Goodness, I hope so. They didn't tune it for you the very first time you looked at it? They should have.

"Voice and Needle if needed": are you able to assure they voice it to your desires? Or are they just going to "voice it as needed" and tell you its great?

"Regulation" Good.

"File the hammers" I wonder if they should actually be replaced?

"Replace or work on bushings" replace is a big difference from work on. "Work on" could mean almost anything.

Filing the hammers may be just right so long as there is still good shape, enough felt remaining in the treble, and of course, good tone. Replacing the key bushings is almost automatic unless you can see that it was done in the last few years. I hope the pricing is very attractive because there is an extremely limited market for an un-rebuilt Baldwin concert grand, even when in good, playable condition.

Good luck with the process.

Hi Hunt,

Congratulations! It seems like everything is falling into place for you. That's exciting. Like others have noted, it seems you and the Baldwin are destined for each other.

Let us know your reactions, and the final decision, once the work has been completed.

Thanks for all comments each and every one is greatly appreciated. Not a done deal yet but, we'll see..

(We have a hunch)

By dealers that is.