Steinway O revisited

erwinspiano at aol.com erwinspiano at aol.com
Sun May 18 22:27:38 MDT 2008




  David
  As Always good feedback. As I've said many times....Many things work.
  Now..... What a bout the party?
  Dale




I’ve done them both ways and I’ve not been disappointed with original rib positions.  But it’s hard to compare exactly.  Most of the time I’m increasing the bridge height in the capo by at least 3-4 mms, sometimes more.  I don’t know how our rib scales would compare either.  Grain angles are also changed which stiffens the treble as well.  There are two S&S O’s that come to mind that I’ve done with Del a few years ago as I wanted a comparison.  One has all the bells and whistles, a full blown, turbo charged (actually that’s how the customer refers to it) Del Fandrich design: fish, bass float, full cut-off, transition bridge, modified bass bridge, vertical hitches.  It’s a great sounding piano.  The other one is also a Fandrich design with original rib positions, full cut-off, transition bridge, new bass bridge, treble cut-off.  It’s also a great sounding piano.  They’re a bit different—then again they have different hammers on them which is another story—but I don’t think the original rib position piano suffers.  The bass on the one with the bass float is a bit stronger on fundamental and very clear in the low bass and there are some other subtle differences.  But both came out fine.  Maybe the full bells and whistles piano is a bit more refined, but the differences are subtle.  As I said, sometimes customer budget dictates choices but you can get a very good result both ways.  Given my druthers, I’d rather go all the way with these but sometimes it’s not practical.  

 


David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net
www.davidlovepianos.com 


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of erwinspiano at aol.com
Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2008 12:58 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: Steinway O revisited

 


   David
  My frustration is that when I don't change to more ribs in the trebles I often fight the same voicing issues that were in the original design. 
   I've come to the conclusion that the top two capo sections on most Steinways & other need at least six ribs for stiffness & sustain support. Usually there are only 5. Well at least I like the sustain evenness of voicing & lack of weakness/soundboard resonance's better.
  I don't think it makes as much difference when sticking to the original number of ribs  in the bottom of the piano but adding ribs & fanning them under the bridge is in my highly subjective opinion something I will continue to do. A high- brid idea would to retain the bottom no of ribs & there original locations & then fill in more ribs that lie on the belly rail. Fanned or un fanned there will be an improvement.  The other plus is that there aren't as many new notches to cut.
  The first Steinway O I did a few years back with a fanned array was an amazing success. I added a shorter cut-off than yours &  I believe I only added one rib & it was under the usual trouble note 64 area. Convenient aye? Gorgeous sound.  
  Let us know how it turns out....or just for fun....... invite us all over & have a concert party. I'll bring the drinks.
  Viva la choice
  Dale




I’ve done them both ways (fanned and original rib positions without significant compression) and haven’t found a huge difference.  Fanning the ribs seems to reduce resonance's some (though it doesn't seem to eliminate them entirely), it also allows you to float the bass (which I didn't’t do on this project).  The panel was ribbed at 6% (30%RH @ 85 degrees F) so it does have just a bit of compression.   On some projects, you have to make choices.  



 




David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net
www.davidlovepianos.com 




-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of erwinspiano at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 7:20 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: Steinway O revisited



 



  David
    Since the original rib scale was originally designed to work in conjunction with panel compression stiffness are you concerned  about any potential unwanted soundboard resonance's by retaining the original rib scale placement & same no. of ribs even though they are beefed up to support the entire crown load? 
  Dale



 

-----Original Message-----

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf

Of David Love

Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 11:16 AM

To: 'Pianotech List'

Subject: Steinway O revisited

 

Here's a Steinway O with modifications: transition bridge (old style

connection), cut-off, modified bass bridge sans cantilever, adjustable plate

mounting system.  Vertical hitches in the plate in the treble section (not

pictured).  Plate goes in today.    

 

David Love 

 








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