Are there any problems with the 1964 acrosonic baldwin piano?

Answer 1

This question is nearly impossible to answer.

The acrosonic pianos are spinets. As such, they are a compromise between sound and size. For many people this can be a problem.

The acrosonic uses a special action that places the hammers about at the same height as the keyboard. Since upright actions require some considerable mechanical action beneath the hammers, and, in more sizeable uprights, the back of the key lifts the entire action to fire the hammer at the strings, Baldwin designed the action with drop wires. When you press the key, the back of the key rises, and a thick wire which descends from the bottom of the key lifts the whippen (the bottom of the action.) This action makes the 'feel' of playing an acrosonic quite different from the 'feel' of the normal upright action. The normal upright action is already quite a variation from the Grand action. Many teachers feel that the acrosonic is, therefore, an extension of a pre-existing problem.

Acrosonic actions are difficult to work with. For instance, if the action (used in this way, it means the entire assembly inside the piano minus the keys) needs to be removed, the drop wires need to be separated from the back of the keys. Once they are separated, however, all of the action parts that they support are no longer supported. Additionally, they way they are attached to the whippen, they can flop any-which-way and be difficult to handle. Reinstalling an acrosonic action which has been removed without special consideration can be a real and serious problem: piano technicians acquire special tools to deal with it. This could make acrosonic routine maintenance more expensive than other uprights.

Finally (hardly finally) the acrosonic has plastic elbows at the bottom of the dropwires which are made from a white plastic which decays in ozone. It is not at all unusual to find an acrosonic that is older than 5-10 years with the majority of these elbows so decayed that the keys no longer actuate the hammers. In some cases, the plastic becomes gummy; in others it simply shatters. New elbows have been devised to replace the original ones, the new ones are made of a variety of plexiglas which is capable of dealing with the impact stresses, and a chemical structure which doesn't decay with age or exposure to ozone. (Ozone is, contrary to the Ozone Hole fear mongers, everywhere, naturally occuring. Every electrical storm/thundershower is accompanied with a smell of ozone which many associate with 'freshness'.)

While the replacement elbows are not terribly expensive (about a dollar a key, 10 years ago) every one must be replaced. The replacement elbow cost is only part of the equation: the piano technician must remove the action (meaning they must know to prepare the dropwires so they are properly controlled), mount it for access, remove the remains of the original elbows, then screw the new ones on the ends of the drop wires, and pin the other end to the whippens. That last part means taking the whippens out, at least far enough to access the pins to drive the old one out and place the new one.

All in all, it is not a complicated or dangerous repair, but it can add to the actual cost of taking on an acrosonic which has not already had this repair: A free piano could easily cost a few hundred dollars!