Steinway boards

[John Musselwhite]

>Can one of you guys/gals with intimate contact with Steinway
>clear-up a conflict of information.

I'll take a stab at it...  <g>

>I was once told by North Hudson Woodcraft that they ship full-size
>soundboard panels to Steinway, as opposed to just rough lumber...I
>assume they mean glued-up oversize panels which are then completed
>(ribbed, crowned, finished etc. in the Steinway factory). I

I have never seen that in my visits to the factory, but that's not to say it
doesn't happen occasionally. While N.H.W. may have supplied stock and
*possibly* panels for evaluation, soundboards for production pianos are (or
were up to two years ago) made entirely on-site by Steinway craftsmen from
raw stock.

>attacks from a Mr Bob Sneider. He maintains that Steinway receives
>only a fraction of their stock from North Hudson, mostly they use
>Sitka from the NW, and that they *never* receive anything but rough
>lumber (he mentioned getting this information from F. Mohr). Apart

Franz Mohr is retired, and was at Steinway Hall and not the factory anyway.
Might Bob have meant Michael Mohr (Franz' son), the factory manager? You
could call him on the WATTS line, but this is the kind of question you
should ask on your dime if you're that interested. There are rumours Michael
will be available via EMail soon...

>from the aggressiveness of Mr Snyder's posts (which annoyed me) I am

Snyder does get carried away occasionally. He spends a fair amount of time
defending his favourite piano from detractors as you have seen. Bob is very
serious about his interest in Steinway pianos as those of us who know him
will attest. He isn't a technician, but he certainly has an interest in and
knowledge of Steinway production techniques and easy access to the facts
when they are needed.

>curious to know the *true* story on this...so, do any of you
>Steinway intimates know the history of Steinway boards, from tree to
>board? Perhaps Mr Mohr was simply exercising public relations when Mr
>Snyder called him.

Lumber from the northeast is generally too expensive and not in good enough
supply for production purposes. Traditionally, boards are selected from
Sitka spruce from sawmills in Washington. According to the late Steve Romeo,
former S&S restoration department manager, wood is generally selected from
trees which grew between 3500 and 5000 feet and the north side of the tree
is preferred. Grain pitch and colour are specified to the sawmills by the
factory. The lumber is stacked and seasoned in Steinway's yards and after
being cut into usable boards they are individually matched for colour and
grain, and then the selected boards are put aside as a set until they can be
joined and edge-glued. There is an excellent description of the process in
Catherine C. Bielfeldt's "The Wonders of the Piano" published by
Belwin-Mills, a must-have book for anyone interested in the piano.

>From what I understand, S&S have tried wood from more local sources, but
while the supply is consistant enough for rebuilding purposes, the cost and
availability isn't suitable for Steinway's production demands.

>Another point: Since the mechanical properties of Sitka and Eastern
>White Spruce are so different, quality control would imply that they
>should not use them interchangeably, sometimes getting lumber from
>North Hudson, sometimes Sitka.

I think it depends on the piano. Steinway also has a rebuilding shop on the
top floor of the factory, and there may be occasion to use Eastern White in
a custom job as opposed to Sitka. They are easily discernable to an expert
and wouldn't get mixed in the same soundboard.

That's my two cents, anyway...

                John

"A piano is a piano is a piano." - Gertrude Steinway
John Musselwhite, RPT               Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com              sysop@67.cambo.cuug.ab.ca