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[RicB]

Oh Anne...

I dont know you  half as well as I feel I should, yet I have come in the 
few short posts I've seen from you to understand your passion for 
pianos. And I am very glad you have that passion. Here you move into the 
philosophical arena as to what we should or shouldn't do to old 
instruments. The ground is familiar to be sure. I'm sure you will agree 
that no matter what I did to the piano I would change its sound. Even a 
new perfectly replicated soundboard would do that, and the old one was / 
is...simply unusable in any musical sense I recognize. And I am a very 
very open minded person thus.

Yes... the voice will change substantially. Hopefully I will accomplish 
the exact changes I am trying to accomplish. One thing about piano 
builders, and this goes just as much for the past as the present.  They 
experiment, change, try this and that and the other thing in attempt to 
find <<that sound>>. They always have and always will.  And just as the 
spirit to preserve is important.... so too is the spirit to discover.

Here I have attempted to continue along the track of what I imagine was 
the thinking of the day... and introduce something from modern thinking 
to accomplish a hybrid of past and present.  The grain of the board is 
angled the same direction.... with all that implies for the 
sound...especially in the bass.  The inner ply is tapered so as to 
disappear about 2/3's of the length so that tail region of the 
soundboard is pretty much exactly as the original. The rest of the inner 
ply is used to introduce a bit of crown and crown support in the higher 
treble area, strengthening the system and taking a significant portion 
of the load bearing job the ribs simply have to do in addition to their 
other functions. Given their length in that area.... seems to me like a 
reasonable desire and an interesting approach at dealing with it if one 
first wants to introduce any downbearing at all.   As a result,  I can 
apply a bit of down-bearing to the area and allow myself a slight 
increase in tension, with the goals being to increase both sustain and 
clarity in the treble area where it is typically lacking in these older 
instruments.  I'm not sure it will work.. no.  But the reasoning seems 
sound to me at this point. In any case I will find out soon enough.

Choice of string material and hence the end scale design still remains 
up in the air. A slight lengthening of the upper treble region is what 
is planned, with the bass and lower part of the long bridge remaining 
the same.  Pure Sound wire seems quite attractive at this point... tho I 
have heard some concerns about breakage over time. I understand that 
Bluthner of the time used either Webster or Miller as a string supplier 
and am still looking into what is known about that material for 
comparison.  Modern wire may end up being used.... but regardless the 
scale will be changed slightly with regard to trying to find an 
appropriate downwards deflection of the crown I've introduced.

So really... all I am doing is following up on Bluthners original 
design... trying to beef up the upper area of the scale.  At the very 
very worst all can be undone and a different soundboard can be applied 
more true to the original if someone desires. In anycase... if one 
attempted to preserve the old one in the piano...then the thing would 
have had to be relegated to museum use. And frankly.... there are enough 
Bluthners of the time around already to serve that purpose IMVHO.

So... in answer to your charge.  I think I have covered my butt, and my 
curiosity quite well indeed.  At least as well as I could have employing 
any other approach. And besides... I know there are many other 
rebuilders more of mind to your own to carry that (also) necessary 
torch. All ends are in the end covered one way or the other.

Any thoughts on the bridge material question I posed ?

Cheers Anne.

RicB




    RicB,

    you will only half cover your historical posterior, as the piano's
    voice will have changed substantially.  better than throwing it away
    though.

    cheers.

    AA

     >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    Hi Terry

    The thing was in remarkable condition.  Considering the state the
    soundboard was in that kind of surprised me really.  I am replacing
    it because I will be changing the scale slightly, opting for a bit
    longer string lengths in the treble section. Besides... to cover my
    historical fanny among other reasons .... I'm going to reassemble
    the old panel and bridges, making them look all nice and pretty
    again and put them in a nice display box so that anyone interested
    can view the original configuration complete with original scaling
    details.

    But gee... I sure hope the new one will hold up as well as the old
    one.  For aesthetics I'm leaning towards using solid beech as the
    original was.  Any thoughts ?

    btw... for any one interested.. the soundboard came today from
    Terry's workshop in the states.  The perimeter is fitted and the
    longside ribs... a bit of fitting left to do on the bent side... but
    heres a pic.  



    Cheers
    RicB