Soundboard Evaluation

[Ron Nossaman]

>Now it appears obvious to me that this piano has a board that will likely go 
>inside-out when the strings are removed. If this were my piano I would not 
>be asking questions. As it belongs to a client, and my expertise at 
>condemning soundboards is, shall we say - not as extensive as some, I am 
>seeking an opinion or two regarding my conclusions. I say if they want the 
>piano to be like new, it gets a new board - anything less and they have a 
>crippled piano. Thanks for any input.
>
>Anyone care to share any thoughts on why the killer octave region would be 
>where there is a fair bit of downbearing, and where it is negative, the tone 
>is not noticeably bad? Thanks again.
>
>The Fun Never Stops
>Terry Farrell

Terry,
Roger's right. You need to check both front and rear bearing. It's quite
possible to have inadequate to negative front bearing through that killer
octave even with good positive net bearing. It's also quite possible to
have adequate front bearing with a negative net. The mid and low tenor
soundboard impedance requirements are lower than in the killer octave, so
killer octave type symptoms don't tend to show up much down there unless
it's really bad - until you get to the end of the bridge and the board
impedance drops further. That's probably part of why it doesn't sound bad
in the tenor (at least at low to moderate volume levels). It's more
forgiving down there. The killer octave isn't, and can sound lousy even
with positive crown and bearing when the system impedance in that area is
too low. 

Unless your front and rear bearing readings prove to be near miraculous, I
think you're probably right to replace the board. While you're at it, I'd
suggest putting tighter radius crowns in the ribs than Baldwin's 72', and
tighter yet in the treble, and adding a millimeter or so of height to the
ribs from the first note past 50, on up. It won't look different than new,
but it should sound better.

Ron N