Soundboard repair question

[Annie Grieshop]

>And take the super glue away from the professor.

I made him swear that he wouldn't experiment with that piano, although he
was obviously ready to give it a whirl.  Come to think of it, I suspect none
of that bunch has any idea what those pianos are worth.  Perhaps that would
help motivate them to spend the $$ for D-C units.

Thanks for your comments, Fenton, and I do apologize to everybody for
whatever I've missed in the recent soundboard discussions.  Sometimes
information doesn't really sink in until you have some personal interest in
it.  Or maybe I'm particularly dense this winter. <g>

But I certainly do appreciate all this information you've given in response
to my question.  There's no way they're going to rebuild either of those
pianos, so my main concern right now is to stabilize them and minimize any
further damage.  The B had some pretty loose pins in the middle, which
worried me -- but, oh goodness, was it nice to play!  I offered to keep take
care of the D-C units for them (keep them filled, etc.), as long as I can
come in a play that piano.  It's on my way to nearly anywhere else, so it
certainly wouldn't be a hardship. <g>

Since I've been doing a LOT of regulation work on various verticals
recently, I'm doing a lot of it by "feel" now, rather than relying on
measurements.  And my work is greatly improved, with more appropriate
adjustments and a more consistent product.  Now on to the grands!

But it's challenging (and daunting) to realize that many, if not all of the
"systems" in a piano (and the instrument as a whole)really require that kind
of intuitive and holistic comprehension.  Dang, can you imagine what it's
like to work at a job where you might learn it all and get bored?

Thanks again!

Annie

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fenton Murray [mailto:fmurray at cruzio.com]
> Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 3:53 PM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: Re: Soundboard repair question
>
> Annie,
> What really matters is the sound of the piano before you tear it down. Do
> you like it, then you might want to keep the board. There could
> certainly be other things beside the SB that could degrade the tone of the
piano,
> hammers, strings, terminations, bearing on the board. All that has to be
> considered. A SB not capable of holding up to a re-stringing and future
> decades of service will show it's age and fraility in different
> ways. Some of these are simply the health of the wood, think of old brown
brittle
> action parts, allthough spruce, especially sitka, seems to be incredibly
> resillient, IMO. There is a mechanical design to the Soundboard,
> Rib, Bridge system which has been discussed at length here. A break down
of
> that system, as in loss of crown and the ability to support the load of
the
> strings, is a sign of a dead system. A string check underneath will show
crown,
> here again it's only part of the story, some great sounding old Steinways
> out here on the West Coast show hardly anything under load yet sound
great.
> Your cracks are just cosmetic, not that they shouldn't be repaired during
a
> restring, I just wouldn't consider tearing down the piano for that one
> repair. And take the supper glue away from the professor.
> Fenton
>
>