Baldwin Combo Harpsichord arrives

Last weekend was another early Christmas in our household (there are lots of these when you're a gearhog). The Baldwin Combo Harpsichord arrived Friday afternoon and was waiting in the garage, packed on a palette along with the Baldwin Professional amp. I drove home giggling like a little girl and immediately tore into the packaging. After three of us wrestled it upstairs, we assembled it and took the pictures in this post.

I found the Baldwin by combing Craigslist nationwide, using a site like this. Alas it was in New York and was listed at $3000 (which is actually current eBay market value). I went ahead and mailed the seller the usual questions - are the plectra present, do the pickups work, etc. He responded that the plectra weren't there and that the electronics didn't work either - so I could have the entire lot (harpsichord, pedals, and amp) for free if I could pick it up. He also mentioned that he's the original owner, it's been sitting in his studio for 40 years, and he recorded an album with it in 1970 with his group 'The Open Window'.


Thus began my adventure of finding a company that would pickup, pack, and ship this thing. We finally found this in Navis Pack & Ship. They were close to the pickup location and could do everything for a few hundred bucks (better than a few grand indeed). While waiting for it to arrive, I actually found the record the seller made with the Baldwin. It is a bunch of psychedelic stuff with orchestral backing, also featuring great Wurlitzer EP, Farfisa Compact, and grand piano.


The overall condition is great (esp. considering the price): It's dusty and needs a good scrubbing; the pickups work, but the output jack doesn't; and the amp is pretty filthy. The plectra are actually all present, but almost every jack has the same issue - the mechanism to push the tongue into place is worn out. On normal harpsichords this is done with a little bristle spring; the Baldwin just uses arched pieces of plastic that push against the tongues. Anyway, I'm confident we can improvise some way to fix these.