compression vs rib crowning

[David Andersen]

on 3/10/03 9:59 PM, Brian Trout at brian_trout@hotmail.com wrote:

> Different ears will perceive things differently.  What
> some would call a sweet, pure, 100 year old Steinway soundboard tone, others
> might call thin, nasal and lacking body of tone.  I won't go so far as to
> say either group is wrong.  But I know what my ears tell me I like.  (And
> it's not the old one...)
> 
> To each his own.
> 
> Just my opinion.
> 
> Brian T.

Hi, Brian----every set of ears a planet.  For me, hearing a 100-year-old
board that has been preserved in a steady RH state---a Mediterranean
climate, such as we have here in SoCal---and with everything else on the
piano operating fairly well----is one of the pleasures of my life.  I
sincerely wish you could come to where I live; I would take you on a tour of
75-100 year-old boards in Steinways that, to me, sound much better,
stronger, clearer, more resonant than almost any replacement board I've
heard.  I absolutely cannot understand the dogmatic opinion of some that a
board is automatically toast after a certain chronological deadline---I can
only surmise that the holders of said dogma are allowing their desire to get
paid (for installing new boards)to override their ability to hear
beauty.....

David Andersen