informal/definitions/rerere

[Delwin D Fandrich]

JIMRPT wrote:

>   ... As to Del's comments re: boards I will defer to his greater experience but I
> don't think he said that any board that goes into compression stress needs to
> be replaced...did he?  After all as soon as you place a crown in a board, by
> any means, the board is under compression stress isn't it?  As soon as you
> string a new board it is under further compression stress isn't it? If the
> board is not under stress then it probably is not going to sound very
> good...huh?  Compression stress and compression stress failure are two
> different animals if I understand Del's thinking on this.

Wood can be subjected to some low level of compression stress even across grain for extended periods of time without
catastrophic failure. In the case of the soundboard, it depends on how the crown was originally obtained. If the ribs were
crowned, and the soundboard not dried out overly much when bellied, it is quite possible that enough crown could remain to
insure an acoustically functional soundboard after doing what you did.

It boils down to a judgment call. You have to decide on a case by case basis. With some pianos, you know their history. You
know how they were bellied and how their boards hold up over time. With others you simply have to examine the evidence before
you and make your best guess.



>   As to the "pristine" part, the ivories and keysticks are not "pristine"
> either; should they be replaced solely for that reason ?  The same question
> could be asked of many other parts such as action rails, keyframe, monkeys,
> damper wires, etc.  I suppose what I am saying, Danny, is that if the soundboard is performing its function, and doing an
> excellent job of it, why should we assume that if we restring it, after repair and refinishing, that it will
> immediately fail?

I would only caution here that a soundboard that measures completely flat, has numerous compression ridges and cracks, has no
sustain, etc., may well "bounce back" and show good crown once the strings and plate are removed. This is often, then, taken
as a good sign. A sigh of relief is heard all around...the soundboard still has life in it. A little drying out, a few shims,
a new coat of whatever, and the board is as good as ever. Nay, even better! Because now it is "aged wood" and we all know
that aged wood sounds better than new wood. The "soul" improves with age, right?

The only problem with this little scenario is that, once restrung and loaded, the soundboard still has inadequate sustain.
OK. There may be enough improvement so that we can claim that our soundboard repairs did their trick. But, more often than
not, we deceive ourselves. Remember, we did a lot of other things that should have helped our piano sound better, including
resetting downbearing. In a very brief period of time, however, we're going to end up voicing those nice new hammers for
sustain and wondering what is wrong with them because we can't get it. Must be a lousy set of hammers.



>   This just has not been my experience but I am sure that the constant extremely high humidity in my neck of the woods
> plays into this.
>   Enough.
> Jim Bryant (FL)

I believe that the original design and construction of the soundboard has more to do with it than does Florida's constantly
high humidity. Although this does bring up another point... Should we be making rebuilding/remanufacturing decisions based on
the climate of our specific locale? Our society has become exceedingly mobile. To make a decision based on how the piano
might perform only in local climate conditions may not be the wisest thing to do.

Again, it's a judgment call.

-- ddf