Piano Technician Training reply

[Ron Nossaman]

Hi James, 

Sorry to be dredging up antiques here (no, not you, the subject!), but I
have been trying to remember the name of the guy I think you are talking
about here for the last week. My weakly, er, weekly rememberer finally came
up with the name Matt Slats. Ring any bells... with anyone?

Re: gut feelings/hunches; Only when your guess answers *all* the questions.
If the explanation is right, it's unconditionally right. If there are
exceptions, it's incomplete pending better answers. The same thing holds
true for a SWAG, or an oscilloscope tracing.

JMHO, Ron


>It is said that years ago Kimball hired a piano designer, ( I think it was
>Klaus Fenner) to prove/show that Kimball laminated soundboards were not
>inferior to solid spruce. (This is how I remember it in my faulty brain)
>The idea being that if someone, in their ads would say that laminates are
>inferior to solid spruce that Kimball could sue them.  I attended a class
>given by this fellow and he showed slides on how he conducted his tests to
>prove his point.  He had an unstrung back with no strings and pointed a
>speaker at various points along the bridge and made sand patterns of how
>the board vibrated with both types of boards.  So he proved that the lam.
>board did just as well as the solid spr. bd. Did he prove it?.  I don't
>think so, because there were no strings on the frames.  In the end, it
>didn't prove a thing as far as the larger picture is concerned.  There are
>some intelligent people who can prove something either way they want and it
>still will not necessarily hold true in the real world.  There is lots to
>be said for feeling, gut feelings, and hunches just as well as scientific
>proof.
>James Grebe

 Ron