Dale, Dave and Dave on rebuilding

[Ric Brekne]

Hi folks

Just got done reading the article on rebuilding / redesigning the small 
grand in the latest issue of the Journal. Nicely expressed opinions 
written on the subject by all three.  Our one and only Dale Erwin was 
the star of the show IMO however.  A great testimonial in favour of 
those not hesitating to dive into redesigning a smaller instrument and 
employing rib-crowning methods for soundboard construction. Not the 
least... all done in great style.  Good stuff all the way around tho by 
all three.

The article did bring up one question in my mind however.  Just how much 
extra work / time (and thereby expense) goes into a sucessfull re-design 
of a small piano. In Dales example it seemed like things went rather 
straight forward and required only minimal planning and thinking 
through, yet in the first example by Dave Snyder there seemed to be all 
kinds of issues that needed work arounds.

Cheers
RicB