? Hi Ron ? Ok. SO?just to be clear ... I am NOT saying tight grain is a requirement?only that?I personally like the sounds of the boards that do. Tonal envelope ie.?Sustain seems clear & enviable to my ears ???And... many piano builders get there sound in different ways. This may indeed be informative to some to know that tight wood seems part of their recipe whatever they may believe about the magic wood theory.? ?? While on the grain subject, Manufacturers apparently have different spec on wood grain. Two of I know.... ? Steinway NY wants 14 to 16 grains an inch & Stwy Hamburg wants 18 & higher. Stwy NY are still?C.C. crowners. Hamburg has a radius rib of some kind & yet desire?tighter grain. ? Another point is that the wood itself has some impedance qualities. OR low density wood?or high density wood. I think any body can make a case?for either using whatever design or model.? Having used many variety's of spruces, to my ears Sitka gives a sound I am most attracted to. Interestingly it has the highest weight to strength ratio. ?? I recently played a 7 ft Steingraebber at David Andersen. I don't play well but this thing sucked the music out of my finger tips. It was ethereal & glorious.?If I had money I would have bought the piano quit my job & taken piano lesson. Truly my tonal pocket. Very tight grain panel. 25 per inch. By the way.. I have this reaction to all the Steingraebbers I've played. ? Interestingly, speaking to UDO Steingraebber last year,said they glue there bridge on first in some form of curved caul?to the?board?obviously?subscribing to the theory of the bridge being a long?supporting member(or double crowning)?Then the ribs go on. I don't know if crowned or?flat. Petrof does the same thing. This idea has been lambasted here?on this list time and again and yet here are these pianos that blow my ears off. As an objective listener observer I pay attention to these things. I think we all should.? ?? The merits of rib crowned & supported boards have incredible merit as do rib crowned boards. Either to my mind will hold up longer & produce?to my ear a incredible sound envelope. Yes, I subscribe to the idea of intelligent (rib)?design, wholeheartedly...lol... ? .but ? There are many legitimate forms of soundboard construction discussed on this list generously shared by many. I appreciate?it. ?Other folks around the world have different way of getting the same or equally amazing results using other methods I?pay attention to. ? Best ? Dale ?By the way both bellies at Rochester, My D & David A.s? Stwy C were tight grained panels.?The D?with more compression. The?C, rib crowned & supported.??? ? erwinspiano at aol.com wrote:? > *Ahh yes..ok, that's one mans opinion. I'll let you know how these turn > out. Ones for an O the other for a B? > I've had many fine sounding results with tight grain wood as well as > others. The success of a system is in the sound. Listen to some > Steingraebbers,Petrofs & others with tight wood. Rather impressive. Yes, > it's many things that contribute. It _may not_ be an advantage but it > certainly doesn't seem to be a disadvantage. ? Opinion, sure, based on some detail. It depends on how the board is designed, and the required panel compression levels. A low compression board does very well with a low density panel.? ? >Sound is sound and how you > get it is every mans perogative. In my book the beauty of the music is > all I care about when I listen to the piano? ? Absolutely true, though not real informative. Good piano tone and music don't require high grain density panels.? Ron N? ? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090313/c24db17d/attachment.html>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC