Chickering Grand Features/old vs. new wood

[gordon stelter]

  I've heard plenty of new soundboards that are "thin"
"tinny" and "meager" sounding, in many ways, compared
to rich, resonant old ones! It is a FACT that old wood
is  harder, and therefore transmits vibrations better 
(a basic law of physics ) etc.. Old soundboards, IF
properly recrowned, can definitely beat out some ( if
not most ) new ones. ( Which was not, obviously, done
in this case! ) 

    As for the Chickering inconsistencies: it is my
understanding that "widow Chickering "  owned the
company at this point, while the staff sort of 
"ran wild" regarding design and construction. It
wasn't until Armstrong ( of American Piano ) bought
the firm in 1909, that some uniformity, and adoption
of contemporary practices, returned to production. 

 Thump

 
--- Ron Nossaman <rnossaman at cox.net> wrote:

> 
> > Antique wood. Yeah, what a hoot. 

    P.S.  Please enlighten all the unfortunate souls
who are paying pay top dollar for 500 year old church
beams to make violins from, that they're wasting their
money. I'm sure they'll be grateful!



 
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