Piano Rims (rambling post)

[Ron Nossaman]

>>The soundboard has to have the string(s) as the spring (energy storage
>>device) and mass, or it won't sustain much at all. Not much ring time to an
>>unstrung soundboard.
>>
>>Ron N
>>
>Is that true, Ron?  Have you tried it?  If you were to put one
>string on (let's say in the low end of the scale) with no downbearing I'm 
>sceptical
>about there being not much sustain.  

I did say string(s), and that the soundboard all by itself doesn't have
much ring time. 

>The sustain time of those 
>strings
>is amazing.  (My conjecture is that the 2 strings were installed 
>specifically to
>demonstrate to a prospective customer the sustain time.) I think perhaps the
>soundboard itself is providing the spring and mass.
>
>Phil F

It's also providing an impedance that vastly exceeds the requirement for
those two strings. Hence the long sustain. A mass suspended from a light
spring will oscillate longer than the same mass on a heavy spring.

Ron N