Mahogany was Wood & Humidity

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Brekne" <Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: January 01, 2001 11:33 PM
Subject: Re: Mahogany was Wood & Humidity


> Its been interesting reading how this subject matter has just
> taken off and shot in several directions.. lots of information
> popped up that I hadnt really expected, or asked for.. and tho it
> hasnt been directly stated... I get the idea that in answer to my
> origional question there has been no mahogany soundboard produced
> yet ? BTIM no 100% mahogany board (ribbing excluded).

If memory serves, the S&C "StoryTone" soundboard was 'all mahogany.' That
is, both the faces and the core were mahogany. I know this doesn't fit with
your idea of a 'solid' mahogany board, but still...

Actually, most any wood (as well as a variety of other materials) could be
used to make the soundboard panel. There would be a variety of different
tone qualities depending on the mass, stiffness and damping qualities of the
material.

Since mahogany is considerably more dense than spruce I would expect that
directly substituting (that is, keeping all other factors such as panel
thickness, grain direction, etc., the same) the two would result in a sound
envelope having a somewhat reduced higher harmonic content throughout, i.e.,
a 'warmer' sounding tone.

In a very small piano the bass would probably suffer since generally the low
end is already pretty well choked off by the usually very short string back
scale and by the bridge's proximity to the edge of the soundboard and/or the
usually cantilever. If you impede the boards movement to the higher
harmonics as well, there's not going to be much left. In a larger/longer
piano, however, the bass--at least it's tone quality--might actually
improve. The longer string backscale and better bridge placement allow more
soundboard/bridge mobility which will help the board respond to the low
frequency vibrations in the strings. The greater mass of the board will
impede the transfer of some of the wilder high harmonics. The result might
well be quite pleasant.

Through the mid-range you may not notice much difference between the two.
The upper tenor and treble would probably be somewhat weaker, though with
good, probably better, sustain time.

Guessing at anything beyond this would be even wilder speculation than the
above.

Tweaking the design a bit might well result in a very pleasant piano. Yes,
it would sound a bit different than a similar piano using a spruce board,
but that is not to say it would be 'worse.' Or for that, 'better.' Just
different.



> Btw.. the reason I asked this in the first place was that I came
> across an old beater that appeared to have a mahogany panel.
> Didnt have time to look it over closely, and by now I think the
> owner has used it for firewood, so I suppose I will never know..

To bad.  At the price of real mahogany these days, that soundboard might
have been worth something.

Del