Soundboards with and without

[Antares]

Danny Moore wrote:

>OK, I can accept that, but why "new" ribs on an old board?  If the board 
>was truly a beautiful sounding board, it was a result of the whole thing, 
>including ribs.  This logic was why our teacher taught us to remove the 
>board, cook the humidity out of it, and glue the original ribs back on
>in the facory location.  This restores the crown without changing any of 
>the original characteristics.  Of course one would have to be careful not 
>to destroy the angle of the inner rim, and (as a result of many years) the 
>rebuilt board will be slightly smaller than the rim, so the "gap"
>between the board and the rim must be filled (we used epoxy).

André writes back:

Dear Colleagues,
It is interesting to notice that there are some pianotech subscribers who doubt the use of new ribs on old soundboards. I received some private e-mails as well from several techs who told me that they did not agree or had serious doubts about the whole procedure.

For that reason, I shall once more explain what happens to the sound and the tonal quality.
Let me also again tell you all that I do not do this kind of work myself, I am not specialized in this matter and chose a long ago for a different pianotech activity.
I have however two big hearing organs (called "ears") on the left and right side of the spherical shaped object (s.s.o.) we call "the human head".
With these ears I can hear the difference in sound between an old untreated flat and lifeless soundboard, and an old soundboard with new ribs.
A very interesting aspect we certainly should take into consideration, is the fact that I am not the only human being with afore mentioned hearing flaps on both sides of my "human head".
It means that I am not just making up these glorious fantasies. On the contrary! Many times I was a firsthand witness when an older grand or upright was ready for regulation, tuning and voicing, after it had received its new power from new ribs.
What am I trying to tell you?
I am only trying to tell you that re-newing ribs on old soundboards is a serious alternative for restoring power with the use of the original soundboard.
Furthermore, I am of the opinion that (amongst others..yes..yes...) the old soundboard (and ribs and bridges) is the major transformator of one kind of energy into another.
The soundboard etc also gives the transformed energy a spectrum of tonal colors...the overall tone gets its own identity, personality, character, color, taste..name it anything you like (as long as we talk about the same thing).
Now, there are some techs who have serious doubts about my statements.
Hey! that's OK! We're still friends and we're only discussing interesting issues.
To give my soundboard / rib story another angle to look at, I would like to relate to violin makers.
Actually, this whole idea about ribs etc came into my being because of the many contacts I had with a befriended violin maker who has his atelier on the Keizersgracht, around the corner from the little street where I happen to live.
As most of you know, violin makers hardly ever throw away old violin soundboards..look at the famous violins still existing in this world! They almost all still have the original wooden parts they were built with, EXCEPT !!!! <<<< two very little but extremely important parts:
A tiny round piece of wood connecting the front and the backside, and another tiny rib glued under the bass side "Ÿ" hole. (Please excuse me for not knowing the right english terminology, but life is difficult enough as a Dutchman! with this weird muddy language!)
So...those old Stradivari violins are still giving an ever increasing beautiful tone because the old wood was preserved and extremely professionally well kept.
And now you know where I got this idea about changing the ribs from: the violin maker!
Before the howling starts, I must add that all the instruments provisioned with new ribs, sound much better than before, have a much more beautiful tone than before, have a much stronger tone than before and...most important:
I am happy with the result because >> I << like the result, my customers are happy too, and among those customers are some (in Holland) very well known professional pianists and teachers.

It has become clear to me that their are many ways leading to good old lovely Roma! (the very Center and Paradise for Espresso lovers!! to mention *just* one aspect...)
I strongly believe in building new boards and replacing old ones.
And why not!
I also believe in juicing up old boards with shims, steam, lowering frames etc.
And I also strongly have come to believe the fine result of re-ribbing old boards conform the violinmakers way.
All these tactics have their own pro's and contra's, and often money will dictate the procedure.
Lastly, I must tell you that renewing ribs shows one more remarkable aspect...
If the instrument in the old state of being had a certain character, then you will immediately recognize that very same character after having installed the new ribs on the board.
This is important to know, because one might choose this method of restoring power because of that reason! 
I do, allthough I am definitely convinced that renewing the entire board will have maybe the very best result, but...to get a new original soundboard as it was made in the factory..that is another matter...
I hope my little explaination has cleared some misty ideas about this method.



Friendly greetings from :
          
CONCERT PIANO SERVICE
André Oorebeek
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
       
‰  where MUSIC is no harm can be  ‰