Defective Yamaha Soundboard/Oh well

[Erwinpiano]

Hey Terry

   You know me Terry always have a thought happenin when it comes to spruce.
O.K. though not a  desireable condition I'm guessing many of us have seen
some seriuosly cracked boards as you described and many times unless loose
from the ribs the sound seems unaffected.  The piece of the panel you
describe I woud bet has alot of spring wood  it  or just happens to be a
softer( It's wood afterall)and because it's softer, has taken the brunt of
the compression set.  It likely won't progress since the pressure from
compression has releived itself into this one plank in the board.  I've seen
many old stwys that had the earthquake fault look to it I.E. one peice
slipping by an adjacent one.  I have taken the trouble at times to remove
fairly wide sections of this kind of damage(  ONE OR MORE INCHES) and insert
new wood but upon removal of the peice was unable to even break it apart  in
my hands.  I now think it was only an exercise in cosmetic gymnastics but
hey it looked better.   I've said it before and I'll stumble into it again
the boards I like the sound of the most seem to have visible amounts of
compression, including  one one or more compression ridges so I don't get to
exited about these.  My Dad claims that William b. White used to say
"Soundboard Cracks ,Leave them Alone!!!"

   The long term downside of to much cellular damage is shorter longevity.
Buzzing is not usually the problem unless of course the rib joint is loose
and we fix those all the time.   It's important for clients to minimize
further damage with dampchsrs and avoid damaging humidity swings (a no
brainer).  The fact that it has the bridge running over it lends some
strength to it and will help it hang together over the long haul.  Still all
in all I would not wish to participate in a referral of purchase unless the
price were right and every one knew the lowdown and was willing to take the
risk .  It would have to be Quite a Sound or I'd vote pass!
   My Dad was a Yamaha dealer for 20 yrs , my least favorite grand model was
 the G-2!!!!!!!!
      Enough said

    Dale Erwin