Terry, I think the difference is in what the manufacturers are aiming for. The Boesendorfer rim, in my opinion, adds an unpleasant amount of "echo" to their pianos. A sort of resonance which, as a player, I find somewhat distracting. The opposite end of the spectrum would be old Knabe grands, which have a slightly too "hard" and immediate tone for my taste. ( But I still enjoy playing them ! ) I like Masons and Conovers the most. I don't consider spruce truly "soft", as chipboard is, for example. It may have a low overall density, but the fibrous portion of it is still pretty rigid: almost "bamboo" like, hence a good transmitter, and poor absorber, of vibrational energy. Thump --- Terry <terry@farrellpiano.com> wrote: > Boesendorfer makes their inner rims of spruce > -right? > > I have often wondered how they can make a decent > piano with a soft, > low-density wood like that. Do they use a vertically > laminated rim like > American pianos? Does Bechstein also use a spruce > inner rim? I inspected an > 1880s Weber recently (about 7-foot) and noted that > it had a horizontally > laminated softwood inner rim. Kinda neat looking > actually (spruce, pine, > don't know exactly what it was - didn't want to dig > into it - but definitely > softwood). > > I'd sure like to hear any thoughts others might have > about why a > manufacturer would go for a low density wood when > there is a fair bit of > ?logic? well, so many successful builders use a > heavy thick hardwood rim. > > Terry Farrell > > > Hi Terry, Ric, List, > > > > The radiation from speaker cabinet panels would > not be > > desirable even if the radiated spectrum were flat, > > which it isn't. So, MDF, being lossy > (dissipative), > > is in that application a good choice (as long as > you > > don't remind yourself that you paid all that money > for > > particle board). Sustain is definitely not what > you > > want in a loudspeaker box. There is plenty of > power > > available from the amplifier to drive the speakers > and > > waste some energy in the fill material, the air > > inside, and the MDF. > > > > In contrast, a piano designer probably strives to > > direct as much of the energy into the soundboard > and > > get the least energy loss elsewhere so that the > board > > can keep vibrating as long and as vigorously as > > possible. > > > > Now, my question is: why does Boesendorfer get > decent > > results with a soft rim. Or, are the results that > > great? > > > > Vladan > > > > ============================================= > > > > I don't know Ric, I'm not sure exactly how > applicable > > it is, but the > > preferred material for high-fidelity speaker box > or > > mounting platform is > > MDF. Also, while it seems a good idea that every > part > > of the piano should > > play its role, I'm not sure that all parts need to > be > > little soundboards. > > MDF might not hold a screw well, might fall apart > > rather quickly in the > > water, but as far as just being an immobile hunk > of > > very dense stuff that > > doesn't vibrate very well - which, I think, is the > > basic function of an > > inner rim - it think it fits that bill even better > > than many hardwoods. It's > > also dimensionally quite stable (I think). > > > > Hmmmmm, an MDF pre-formed inner rim? > > > > I'm really not suggesting that, but I find it > > difficult to imagine how it > > would be a detriment to the musical properties of > a > > piano when used as a > > case material. > > > > Terry Farrell > > > > Richard wrote: > > > > > Grin.... true enough Terry.... but then that > said. > > Steinway does beleive > > > in the idea that every part of the piano should > in > > someway or another > > > contribute to the projection and quality of the > > sound. Solid hardwoods > > > cases/rims... vs papboard...? hmmm > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > The all-new My Yahoo! - Get yours free! > > http://my.yahoo.com > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pianotech list info: > https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: > https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
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