[CAUT] Lack of low frequency response

[Richard Brekne]

Hi folks, and thanks for the responses.  Interesting that I am hearing 
that the soundboard maybe too stiff. I have off list post which points 
in the opposite direction. Reason given is that rib structure can be too 
shallow in the middle area of the soundboard causing the thing to 
vibrate as a bunch of small tweeters instead of a large whole.

Hammers can certainly get softer in an attempt to improve the 
situation... but they cant really change what the board is capable of.  
Seilers I've run into always have a kind of nasal sound as well... 
especially in the range just below the usual killer octave range... but 
this is a different kind of nasalness... and when you play the bass area 
of these Seilers you get this big boomy round and full bass... with a 
very nasty (in the positive sense) growl. 

The kind of thin sound I'm wondering about here doesnt have any bass 
response at all really... everything below middle C or say C5 just 
sounds midrange.

If one assumes its a soundboard related thing... what different causes 
CAN be involved ?  Too stiff a soundboard because of overall too much 
thickness ?  How would say a 12 mm thick panel with very shallow ribs 
sound ? And what would the difference be between two such panels... one 
with lots of compression and one without ?

Cheers
RicB





    A model 240 Seiler that I've worked on for years was very nasally
    and mean
    sounding. I changed to  lighter and softer hammers.  It sounds a lot
    better
    and the nasal quality is gone.  So what's to blame, the hammers or the
    soundboard?

    Barbara Richmond, RPT
    near Peoria, Illinois