The Baldwin Piano Company is a well known American Piano manufacturer that makes a variety of upright and grand pianos. The origins of this company can be traced all the way back to 1857 with its founder Dwight Hamilton Baldwin who started out as a music teacher. From their early beginnings, Baldwin vowed to make some of the best production pianos ever made. Over the years they have made some fantastic products, and today they produce a range of different pianos at different price points. Full-sized grand pianos are a financial investment, even the “cheap” ones are very expensive due to the nature of the instrument. If you are looking for a top-of-the-line full sized concert piano then take a look at Baldwin’s SD10.
Baldwin describes their SD10 as their flagship model and “the worlds finest hand-built instrument”. Whether or not this is true, the SD10 still is a very nice piano, as it should be for $103,500 dollars. The piano itself is nine feet long, making it a true full sized concert grand piano. The SD10 is made from a single solid piece of maple with a continuously-bent rim design. The soundboard of the piano is made from the highest quality quartersawn spruce allowing you to “enjoy wood with a tighter grain pattern and improved uniformity for exceptional tonal characteristics”. The keys on the piano are made from authentic African ebony wood that have a larger than average radius, to improve the feel. The piano also uses Baldwin’s own Renner hammers that they designed to provide with high levels of tonal clarity. The action of the keys are also extremely responsive and fast, allowing players to hit keys faster than ever. At the bottom the piano has the traditional three pedals found on nearly all pianos: soft, sustain, and sustenuto. The pedals themselves are made from high quality solid brass. The piano comes in either polished ebony or satin ebony and is available at authorized Baldwin Dealers around the world.
It should be noted that in 2008 Baldwin closed down its American factories and moved them to China, so all of their newest pianos are made in China. Given that fact the price of $103,500 seems higher-than-ever, perhaps its too much?
Photo from baldwin.com
