Straight-strung vs. Over-strung

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Stephen Birkett wrote:

> I knew I should have known better than to join in...but couldn't resist.
>
> Del makes the point that the pianos to which he refers are fundamentally
> different from those to which I refer...I think that would be a fair precis.
>
> I (stepping lightly) am not so sure. The design parameters of a big
> Viennese grand of 1830 are not that far from modern piano
> design....overall string tensions c 6 tonnes (cf 20 tonnes modern grand).
> Ratio of board thickness to string tension is pretty much the same as it
> is for modern pianos.  No...the "problem" pianos that Del refers to aren't
> really fundamentally different, they are either bad designs or purposely
> designed so that short term response is enhanced at the expense of
> long-term durability (concert instruments that need board replaced after
> 10-20 years).

Well, this is certainly a possibility. I've been told by more than one "old-timer" in the industry that the musical life
expectancy (as perceived by those making them) of pianos built during the late 1800's and early 1900's was considered to be
ten or twenty years.


> On the other side of this...this whole business of compression-crowning
> (differential-drying of ribs and panel)...it's been over-emphasized
> really, at least from old-guy perspective. Don't think there was really an
> attempt to do this. It probably just happened. Almost all historical
> pianos have curved ribs (as do luthiers' violin ribs) glued to a flat
> surface. Modern factory produced high-compression soundboards are
> probably doomed to fail, for the reasons Del gives, and I concur.
>
> There is a wonderful (almost modern scale) piano c1856...perhaps ones of
> Del's exceptions. It is probably one of the finest pianos in existence,
> and certainly a commercial dead-end from a design perspective.  It is
> straight-strung, with sb grain perpendicular to the case direction, ribs
> almost parallel to the sb in places...most certainly could not have been
> compression crowned. It's current condition literally shocks any modern
> pianist who plays it...it is so good it blows everybody away. Original
> board.
>
> Stephen
>
> Stephen Birkett Fortepianos
> Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos
> 464 Winchester Drive
> Waterloo, Ontario
> Canada N2T 1K5
> tel: 519-885-2228
> email: birketts@wright.aps.uoguelph.ca

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Well, now. Here is a whole other topic to debate. Straight-stringing vs. over-stringing. Let me pose a question --

Why are all of the pianos being built today overstrung?

-- ddf