[CAUT] deterioration from aging

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Susan.

I'd have to say yes, the climate can/does get into the picture to be 
sure.  So does handling.  I'm not sure I buy into the <<lets blame the 
factory>> bit... tho to be sure if an instrument is poorly assembled its 
not going to do well over time. Otherwise I'd have to echo Ed's 
response. The instrument will loose some of its power. Piano sound 
simply jumps out in the most vibrant and wonderful of fashions when the 
board is at its peak... this slowly disappears. To compensate you have 
to voice down carefully to get a similar overall quality of sound. If 
you dont... they sound as if you are overdriving the acoustic box as it 
were.

Careful voicing down can yield a beautiful sound, but at a lower overall 
response level. We have two examples here in town that illustrate both 
age and handling very well. The orchestra instrument I just posted 
sounds really quite delightful. And in a smaller hall could be quite 
satisfactory for just about any use. But as a recital instrument... or 
for a concerto it just wouldn't cut it.  Then we have a newer instrument 
out at a location just south of town. It has had extremely aggressive 
string seating sessions done to it by one of those techs who believes 
you have to mash the strings into the bridge/bridge pin interface and 
kink the string around the pin. This instrument is very difficult to get 
to come clean. The fellow in reality put about 30 years of use on to it.

Its not just the compression strength in the soundboard itself that 
starts to weaken with time.  The acceptance at the bridge also 
deteriorates, as does the preciseness of the front termination. These 
latter two can be addressed relatively easy while restringing an 
instrument...  but there is nothing you can do about the soundboard 
compression.

Cheers
RicB


    Hi, Ric

    I looked at the subject line, and assumed it was talking about us.
    <sick grin>

    Do you feel that the time schedule for concert pianos leaving their
    prime might depend partly on the climate they find themselves in? Or
    just the amount and kind of playing and maintenance they receive?

    Susan


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20100614/e3414cfe/attachment.htm>