>Ron, > You right, I'll forget duplexes. Speaking of killer octaves and >soundboards that don't work, what's news with Del Fandrichs' "Killer B"? >Will the powers that be make any changes to their soundboards as a >result of that? >-Mike > Mike, Why would they? They have been making them that way for a hundred years and selling them as fast as the finish drys. I serviced an S&S L yesterday that had one of the worst killer octave areas I've heard in a new piano (one year old). Her comment was, "Isn't that a beautiful tone?". - No - There's a new Baldwin L with the same problem here. Same comment from the customer, same response from me. This is the accepted "state of the art", and until people can chose between something like this, and something that sounds like it should (or can), sitting side by side, it isn't going to change. Even then, it might not. Del is currently trying to find a manufacturer that will build his designs to his specifications. I hope he's having better luck than I expect. These acoustic improvements can be made in almost any decently built piano during rebuild. A lot of pianos can be "killerized". It's not specific to the "B", or even Steinway. Del's doing this all the time, and I'm in the middle of my third one (I don't believe I'll catch up, but this is the work I want to continue to do). This stuff works. If Del is successful in getting his pianos built and in piano showrooms, some folks are going to have to redefine their concepts of good piano tone. This isn't a detail, or trick. Nor is it a modification of existing problems to try to minimize the obnoxious effects. It's a basic redesign, with all the interdependent complexity you would expect from such a process. This is a result of starting from scratch and rethinking the standard concepts of what makes pianos work. It's the result of hard headed basic research and a refusal to accept anything that can't be logically justified, measured, or proven. It's the result of designing for performance rather than accepting traditional shortcomings and scrapping ideas that don't improve the product. I expect he'll finish the list when he replies. Maybe he'll have good news from the manufacturing front. Ron
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