Baldwin Pianos

Baldwin Pianos | A Rich American Music History

Baldwin Pianos of the ‘golden era’ are considered one of the best sounding and best-playing instruments in the world. Vintage, quality-built Baldwins are known for their responsive touch, tone, and solid durability, and found in musical venues throughout the world. The Baldwin company began manufacturing pianos in the early 1890s, a couple of decades after the company’s founding with the goal of building ‘the best piano that could be built.’

A Baldwin Piano is a product constructed with a blend of historical pride and modern advances. The company has and still utilizes a manufacturing process focused on scale design. This is a formula that is applied to the various materials used in the design and creation of a piano – everything from the shape of the soundboards to the placement of the bridges and ribs, the length of the strings, and the thickness of the rims and bracing.

Baldwin’s History | Founded in 1857

The Baldwin piano company was founded in 1857 by Dwight Hamilton Baldwin. A Cincinnati, Ohio-based piano, organ, and violin teacher he transitioned towards selling pianos. After initial success in sales, he eventually began the manufacturing of instruments. The D. H. Baldwin company introduced its first upright piano in 1891 and its first grand piano for sale in 1895. D. H. Baldwin died in 1899. His employee and later business partner Lucien Wulsin decided to purchase the Baldwin estate.

“Choose Your Piano As The Artists Do” | Past Baldwin Slogan

The company continued to expand and in 1900 the Baldwin Piano Company won its first award. The Model 112 piano won the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, France. This was the first American-built piano to win the award. The company continued to pick up awards and acclaim at various shows and expositions. By 1913 Baldwin was exporting pianos to 32 countries besides the United States. Baldwin continued to grow and like others during the 1920s, they joined the ‘fad’ and began the manufacturing of player pianos. The popularity of these instruments helped the company grow greatly, however, the explosion in popularity of the radio put piano sales on the decline. The Great Depression hit the company hard, and it was only through careful planning by the company leadership that allowed Baldwin to ride out the downturn with the company still intact. A feat made possible by the large reserves built up for emergencies like the depression.

Vintage Baldwin SD-10 Concert Grand Piano

Baldwin Concert Grands | The SD-10

During the company’s height, Baldwin boasted a solid roster of ‘Baldwin Artists that was second in size only to Steinway & Sons. Notable artists included Bruce Hornsby, Liberace, and Ray Charles. The Baldwin SD-10 Concert Grand was a common sight on performance stages. These beautiful nine-foot pianos were one of the last American-made pianos to compete head to head with Steinway Model D Grands in high numbers.

The prestigious list of Baldwin Artists was encouraged by the company’s large, well-maintained fleet of concert-level grand pianos that were available for pianists’ use around the world. Sadly, this large collection of concert and artists pianos ceased to exist upon the company’s 21st-century bankruptcy. Combined with the ceasing of production in the United States, this led to the end of the Baldwin Artist roster.

The Baldwin Piano Company Today | The End of American Production

Vintage Baldwin Piano Advertisement

Progressing times and tastes led to many changes at Baldwin. The company introduced its first electric organ in 1946 and continued to be a leader in the piano manufacturing industry. They dabbled in guitars beginning in 1965, however, the sales proved to be disappointing. Beginning in the 70s, Baldwin began a massive undertaking to diversify and by the early 1980s piano manufacturing made up very little of Baldwin’s revenues. The company went on a roller coaster ride financially and in 2001 was purchased by the Gibson Guitar Company. Sadly the end was near for the Baldwin company as it had been. In 2008, Baldwin ceased the manufacturing of new pianos at their United States facilities keeping only a handful of employees on board to finish up pianos that had already been ordered. New pianos in the Baldwin lineup are now manufactured overseas in China. An end of an era for one of America’s leading piano manufacturers.

Many musicians and concert pianists have chosen to utilize Baldwin pianos over the years in their work. These include musicians and composers like Earl Wild, John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Carly Simon, and more. The roster of Baldwin Artists at one point was quite large. At their height, Baldwin was second to only Steinway & Sons in the number of artists playing and composing on their pianos. Piano’s bearing the Baldwin name have made themselves the center of many family’s musical lives over their many decades of quality. Chupp’s Pianos’ owner Dennis Chupp grew up with a Baldwin piano in the family living room! (Chupp’s Piano Media Director Benjamin Rogers also learned to play on an older Baldwin Upright.) Baldwin’s contribution to the golden age of the piano should not and frankly cannot be ignored.