Soundboard mass

[Ron Nossaman]

> Yes, I must say that I've never understood why for a long period makers 
> with very few exceptions used, and still do, ribs of more or less square 
> cross-section rather than taller and narrower bars providing the same or 
> better stiffness for less mass.  There was a time, however, in the very 
> early days of the modern piano, when some makers did so, especially on 
> uprights.

They certainly did. There were a number of indications along 
the way that some of the manufacturers had engineers  with a 
fair understanding of the principals involved, and the 
interactions among the various parts. A number of good ideas 
and a whole lot of valid information has been lost by not 
disseminating, or even recording the reasoning behind the 
general approach and details of things tried. A number of very 
promising design aspects, and a greater understanding of cause 
and effect relationships were sadly abandoned.

> I'm sure they are, and I have at no point suggested it's anything like smoke 
 >and mirrors, but my thoughts tend always towards design from 
scratch although
 >I'm a rebuilder and although one of my main current projects 
involves the
 >lowering of the level of the (new) soundboard to accomodate 
a 40mm tall bridge.

Are you planning to use the same ribbing as the original?


> And though Wolfenden may speak of a 38 mm bridge I think he 
> did not actually use such a tall bridge and very few makers did, with 
> exceptionally good results.

I expect that's right.
Ron N