Bechstein plate cracks

[Les Smith]

On Wed, 18 Feb 1998, antares wrote:

> I have a lot of experience with this issue.
> I have had numerous cracked Bechstein plates over the past  decades,
none of
> them ever re-opened.

Hi, Andre.

Just a quick question, if I may. For a high-class piano, it sure seems
that the Bechstein has far more then its share of cracked plates. Even
in century or more year old, high-quality, American-built pianos, like
Steinway, Chickering, Knabe, Weber, Mason and Hmalin, Steck--and even
most lesser-quality pianos- a cracked plate is a relatively rare occur-
ence. Why does the problem seem to appear with such frequency in Bech-
steins? Any ideas? Thanks.

Les Smith

PS I am NOT knocking Bechsteins, at all. I've encountered some exceedingly
nice ones over the years, but fortunately never any with plate problems.
So I'm just curious. ls