Thanks Jim You made me laugh. I have no earthly idea what this means...:) Loud guffaws injected followed by lots of uproarious humor....just to be clear Any way thanks for the vote of confidence Dale S. Erwin www.Erwinspiano.com 209-577-8397 209-985-0990 Best, Jim p.s. I’ve never sent a piano to Steinway for rebuilding,although I quite like them. From:caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of DavidLove Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 3:50 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway rebuilds Yipes, I think I know how you meant that but I wouldn’t saythat’s quite a fair characterization. Not even sure where to begin butthis gets into dangerous territory about trying to characterize all Steinways,comment on what the Steinway sound is or on alternative rebuilding proceduresin one breath. Steinway failures are the favorite whipping boy lately butnot all Steinways sound bad or have failed killer octave problems (we shouldalso be careful to distinguish between Steinway executions of 1920 and 2000—thereare differences). Not all RC&S boards have perfect treble sectionseither. The open characteristics that can be present in a compressioncrowned board with light rib scales can by squelched by an RC&S boardthat puts too much emphasis on not being overdriven or fails to account for thestiffening characteristics that the panel contributes in spite of thecalculations which tend to ignore it. Grain angles, rib featheringprocedures and patterns, bass and treble cut off bars all contribute to theentire tonal envelope but the devil is in the details and there are a widerange of choices and outcomes possible in RC&S boards some favorable somenot. Some of the boards I’ve heard that I liked the least were onesthat were overbuilt to insure adequate rib support (and I’m not talking aboutDale’s projects). These pianos, in fact, I liked less than some cc boardswith slightly compromised killer octaves. Identifying specific tonalgoals and how to get there is very tricky business. But I think it hasless to do with cc versus RC&S and more to do with understanding thestrengths and limitations of each and how the specific design features andchoices impacts the tone generally. Sometimes what seems like a good ideaon paper doesn’t really translate to a musical outcome, one that makes thepiano best suited for what it’s really designed to do which is interpret music. Sometimes a board that can be overdriven is desirable or at least shouldbe achievable if the artist wants it, for example. Having explored anumber of design “plans” in different iterations from full blown all the bellsand whistles to more modest approaches, I can say that more and more I findmyself treading more cautiously with certain design features not because theydon’t make sense but because the way in which they can alter certain musicalaspects of the piano into which they are incorporated. But that doesn’tmean that new designs and approaches can’t produce musical outcomesindistinguishable from more traditional ones or that traditional onesnecessarily guarantee any particular result either. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From:caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of JimBusby Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 1:01 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway rebuilds Dale, Do you think Brent would be correct if he was to say “send it toSteinway if you want it to sound like a NY Steinway.” Your pianos certainlydon’t sound like a NY Steinway (thank goodness!) Jim From: caut-bounces at ptg.org[mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Dale Erwin Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 1:40 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway rebuilds Hi Brent You probably won't take this well but this kind of pedantic attitude deserves aresponse. From my perspective this is like drinking the cool-aidwillingly. It also says a lot about the respect you have or don't have for thenations rebuilders and their work. It says that you believe that only Steinwayhas the magic wood or some such nonsense. The market cornered on varnish.....Come on...Really? Frankly. Its insulting Dale S. Erwin www.Erwinspiano.com Custom restoration Ronsen Piano hammers Join the Weickert felt Revolution 209-577-8397 209-985-0990 -----Original Message----- From: Brent Fischer <brent.fischer at yahoo.com> To: caut at ptg.org Sent: Mon, Feb 14, 2011 12:21 pm Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway rebuilds Truth sir, you are spot on, like white on rice. Send it to the Steinway restoration center for the real driving tonal power you have come to expect from them. Of course, you are aware that you don't want them to drill or string it for you, but you will get a performance quality sound that you want and furthermore they still varnish the boards instead of coatings that let as much as 38% more moisture penetrate the cell structure. And if you want to get the plate processed correctly ship it to Austrailia and have Overs do his termination hardening repairs. Steinway won't mind, just let them pick the plate color. Brent --- On Mon, 2/14/11, Mckeever, James I <mckeever at uwp.edu> wrote: From: Mckeever, James I <mckeever at uwp.edu> Subject: [CAUT] Steinway rebuilds To: "caut at ptg.org" <caut at ptg.org> Date: Monday, February 14, 2011, 9:02 AM Thanks to everyone for the discussion of laminated soundboards, especially Del Fandrich. Now a question about Steinway soundboards. A rebuilder once told me he prefers not to replace Steinway soundboards, because a replacement never quite gives you the “Steinway sound.” Any truth to it? Thanks, Jim McKeever -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20110214/0c364fe0/attachment-0001.htm>
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