At 2:30 PM -0500 1/12/02, Erwinspiano@AOL.COM wrote: > Just take a good look at an original sound board finish from any >top maker in the twenties. Runs down the side of the bridge and dust >galore in the top coats yet and never rubbed out. Dale, Most of your "good old boys" in Europe were dead in the trenches by 1918. That's why I like my pianos before 1914. You can see your face in the soundboard of a Lipp or a Brinsmead after 110 years, and the same goes even for the earlier Steinways. > I never hear any one complaining about the way the good old boys >did or the sound of there instruments because of it. I'd say the added value from a well-finished soundboard well outweighs the extra work required to achieve it. I don't work on pianos where I can't get my money for the time required to get the finishes to my standards. That means I don't work on "commercial" pianos but it doesn't mean I don't get paid for my time. A 6'6 grand I'm working on at the moment cost me £900. I'll sell it for £20,000 or more. That gives me a bit of scope! > I think we make to much of it. So far as the sound goes, that may well be so. Del's experience that anything thin does the job is probably about right from a tonal point of view, but I don't want my cases or soundboards looking like the Baldwins I've seen. JD
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC