Ibach Grand & Sawn Rims

[Farrell]

Tuned a 1905 Ibach 9-foot (or so) grand today. Spent 3 hours on the call. What a blast. Was under the piano for a goodly while with the lady owner discovering construction features.

Maybe someone with some good experience with these older European pianos can tell me if I am correct on the following details. The inner rim is of sawn spruce (or some other softwood?). It is made of three horizontal laminations, each about 18mm thick (top to bottom). This sawn softwood rim/frame is about 50mm wide. Glued to the top of the sawn softwood rim/frame is a European Beech liner, much like in upright construction. The soundboard is then glued to this beech liner. I couldn't really get much feel for the outer rim construction. Is in spruce blocks like a Bechstein & Bosendorfer?

So this thing has a frame/rim much like an American old upright! I had never seen such a thing. Actually I have likely seen the same construction, but did not realize the exact details (inspected an 1870s Broadwood a while back). I am really quite amazed that this type of construction was used. 

Nice sounding piano - except for a bit of a killer octave area (original cracked/patched board). I had been re-whatevered about 18 years ago.

So what are the pros and cons regarding a softwood frame w/ hardwood liner, as opposed to a laminated hardwood rim? Seems like a sawn frame w/ liner would be a relatively easy building method for the one-off piano.

The plate on this piano covered the pinblock. However, each of the four sections only had two screws going through the plate into the pinblock (on the speaking side of the tuning pins). Why in the world so few screws? There must be some other mega-method of anchoring the block. No tuning pin bushings. I would assume the block is glued, doweled, mortised, screwed, stapled, nailed, and whatever else to the rim. But still, so few screws? Is this indicating some other bizarre kind of pinblock-plate-rim relationship?

Way cool piano. Modern action. Were they originally made with a contemporary action?

Thanks for any input.

Terry Farrell