Soundboard Thoughts of Marilyn Monroe

[Susan Kline]

At 10:39 AM 12/11/97 -0500, John wrote:
>Hi Susan,
>
>I guess I should have said, "...we cannot replace the plate, rim, or case..." 
>instead of using the word "change". It is interesting, though, what you
bring up
>regarding adding some type of reinforcement to a "saggy" rim. Has anyone ever 
>done this? And how would you know a rim is wimpy? Split rims are obvious, but 
>beyond that, what are the symptoms of a bad rim? How could you make a rim 
>originally made of inferior soft material harder without wholesale replacement?
>
>Regards,
>
>John P.
>

Hi, John

I would assume one might suspect a "wimpy" rim when the rim is narrow, it is
made of some inferior soft wood, and the tone is gutless, nasal, and has
poor sustain. (The exact opposite of Mason & Hamlin.) One might experiment
to find out if a rim is wimpy if one could devise some non-destructive
manner to provide more firmness. Then if the tone improved radically, that
was surely a wimpy rim. 

Suppose one were to make cauls of wood cut to duplicate the outer profile of
some portions of the rim, line them with something soft so as not to mar the
(probably already wretched) finish, and use pipe clamps betwee them, under
and above the adges of the case? Squeeze it all a bit -- measure crown,
listen for tonal change? Then, if a miracle occurred and M.M. sprang to life
in 1997, devise some permanent reinforcement that would do the same thing.

I don't suppose any intrepid soul has ever tried this?

Regards,

Susan

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>
>At 09:04 AM 12/11/97 -0500, John Piesik wrote:
>     
><big snip>
>>     We might 
>>     change it's performance with a new part (e.g., soundboard, hammers, 
>>     strings, keys), but since we cannot change the plate, rim, or case we 
>>     cannot change the "soul" of the piano. 
>     
>I can well see that casting replacement plates might be prohibitively 
>expensive, but why couldn't we change the rim or case? Not scrapping them 
>and starting over, but beefing up wimpy rims? Adding reinforcement, possibly 
>tiebars like the Mason & Hamlin spider, or gluing heavy liners to the inner 
>rim? Why not? It seems no more effort than replacing soundboards.
>     
>Always curious ---
>     
>Susan
>     
>Susan Kline
>P.O. Box 1651
>Philomath, OR 97370
>skline@proaxis.com
>     
>"I'm glad that there are at least some things somewhere that I don't have to 
>do today."
>                        -- Ashleigh Brilliant
>