David - Far be it from me to speak for Del, but I saved a message to Pianotech from him some time back that told of the experiments he conducted with different finishes on soundboards of similar new Baldwins back in his Baldwin days, and the conclusion was that there was no appreciable difference in tone quality, given reasonable and similar thicknesses in various finishes (at least that's what I got out of it). My personal speculation is that "needing the perfect elixir for the soundboard finish" is just another of those voodoo tales that permeate the instrument trades. I have been using water-based lacquer for soundboards for the past 8-10 years with no discernible "loss in tonal quality". That being said, personal testimonies seem a tad worthless, eh? Unless one had multiple instruments of known similar quality, and the ONLY thing different about each one was the soundboard finish, how would one quantify results? THAT'S what struck me about Del's post.... seemed more 'telling' to me than a hundred personal testimonials.... Mark Potter bases-loaded@juno.com
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC