Hello All.  I have rescued a 1916 Baldwin Hamilton player, complete,
with original bench, nice unmolested player action and nice solid
case and piano action.  The piano has extreme water damage on the
soundboard and, sadly, I don't think it's restorable short of replacing
the board.

I don't think the piano is worth a soundboard replacement.  The ribs
are loose, the soundboard is loose on the back, almost all the way up.
The soundboard is warped toward the plate about an inch and a half
along its crack.  The back beams are loose, and the blocks that hold
the rear casters have gave way.  The amazing thing is that the thing
still works!  (But it sounds horrid, of course.)

I though of routing out the damage and replacing the spruce but the
damage is too extensive for the board has lost it's crown.  If anyone
has the experience to repair damage this bad, I'd like to hear from
you.  This is far worse than anything I have ever encountered, and I'm
in above my head.

Or my next thought:  The Hamilton is not a rare piano, so perhaps
I might replace the piano, or at least the strung back.  Baldwin player
pianos during this area were pretty much the same.  Anyone have a gutted
Baldwin, Hamilton or Monarch player with a rebuildable strung back?

The scale is 28, 30, 30.  The strung back is 53-3/4 inches tall,
counting the strip of wood on top of the pinblock.  (Some had this,
some didn't, depending on the case style, but either will work.)
It's a three-tier player action; measuring from the bottom of the
sticker to the bottom edge of the wippen is 7".

Also, the non-players of this area had a very similar strung back.
Please help me save this old player!  Please contact me directly.

Andy Taylor - Tempola Music Rolls
tempola@aol.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]