Pianotech

  • 1.  Dongbei Slow-Fall mech...

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-15-2020 11:02
    I'm having trouble locating a replacement for the treble side slow-fall mech on a Chinese built Baldwin.  It's the same style you'd see on August-Hoffman's, Steinhauers, and most other Dongbei manufactured pianos.  The metal sticking out is made of an extremely weak material.  If there isn't a replacement available through any vendors, does anyone have repair suggestions?  I'm almost certain some of you have seen it before :) 



    ------------------------------
    Evan Bingham
    Westerville OH
    740-513-7288
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Dongbei Slow-Fall mech...

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-24-2020 14:57
    Not to be a pest, but I find it hard to believe that noone has come across this problem before.  I'm just going to bump the topic this one time, just in case someone with an idea for a solution happened to miss the post the first time around. 

    Evan

    ------------------------------
    Evan Bingham
    Westerville OH
    740-513-7288
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Dongbei Slow-Fall mech...

    Posted 09-24-2020 16:55
    I had a problem with a new August Forrester and contacted the manufacturer. They sent a new one (I had to buy it). Anything should work, I'm sure there aren't too many manufacturers of these out there.

    ------------------------------
    Regards,

    Jon Page
    mailto:jonpage@comcast.net
    http://www.pianocapecod.com
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Dongbei Slow-Fall mech...

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-24-2020 17:56
    Naw, this is from an August Hoffman which is just a knock-off.

    ------------------------------
    Evan Bingham
    Westerville OH
    740-513-7288
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Dongbei Slow-Fall mech...

    Posted 09-24-2020 18:23
    there is a thread of just a few days ago, an issue with a Dongbei slow close fallboard mechanism.  Having worked on these pianos, I would say, replace with an aftermarket one, or rebuild or redesign the original. Its a bottom of the heap, cheap stencil piano...buyer beware...there is no service to expect at this level of the market. They can be turned into nice pianos with about 15k worth of work, though.

    ------------------------------
    Jim Ialeggio
    grandpianosolutions.com
    Shirley, MA
    978 425-9026
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Dongbei Slow-Fall mech...

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-29-2020 14:01
    UPDATE:  In case anyone else is in a similar situation, the replacement part (and for other dongbei specific parts) is from 'North American Music' in New York.  The contact I was given is Gary at 1-800-782-2694.  The email contact is usapianos@yahoo.com.

    Thanks to those of you who have reached out :)

    ------------------------------
    Evan Bingham
    Westerville OH
    740-513-7288
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Dongbei Slow-Fall mech...

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-29-2020 16:04
    I recently had a machinist in my area make a replacement part for this. His name is Hank Wirth and he's around the corner from Dave Hughes' shop
    in Glyndon, MD. He charged me $275 as he said the work was fairly involved. The part that he fixed for my client had the plastic male part replaced with a
    metal one. Don't know if yours has the same issue, but it might be worth a try. Hank's contact info is wirth.machine@gmail.com, 703-943-0983.

    ------------------------------
    William Motsko
    Columbia MD
    410-740-7342
    ------------------------------