Mahogany was Wood & Humidity

[Farrell]

Del wrote:

"In a larger/longer
piano, however, the bass--at least it's tone quality--might actually
improve. The longer string backscale and better bridge placement allow more
soundboard/bridge mobility which will help the board respond to the low
frequency vibrations in the strings. The greater mass of the board will
impede the transfer of some of the wilder high harmonics. The result might
well be quite pleasant.

Through the mid-range you may not notice much difference between the two.
The upper tenor and treble would probably be somewhat weaker, though with
good, probably better, sustain time."

I guess there  are all sorts of possibilities. While glueing up the panel,
one could even use different species for the bass/tenor and the treble!

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Delwin D Fandrich" <pianobuilders@olynet.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2001 10:15 AM
Subject: Re: Mahogany was Wood & Humidity


>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Richard Brekne" <Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: January 01, 2001 11:33 PM
> Subject: Re: Mahogany was Wood & Humidity
>
>
> > Its been interesting reading how this subject matter has just
> > taken off and shot in several directions.. lots of information
> > popped up that I hadnt really expected, or asked for.. and tho it
> > hasnt been directly stated... I get the idea that in answer to my
> > origional question there has been no mahogany soundboard produced
> > yet ? BTIM no 100% mahogany board (ribbing excluded).
>
> If memory serves, the S&C "StoryTone" soundboard was 'all mahogany.' That
> is, both the faces and the core were mahogany. I know this doesn't fit
with
> your idea of a 'solid' mahogany board, but still...
>
> Actually, most any wood (as well as a variety of other materials) could be
> used to make the soundboard panel. There would be a variety of different
> tone qualities depending on the mass, stiffness and damping qualities of
the
> material.
>
> Since mahogany is considerably more dense than spruce I would expect that
> directly substituting (that is, keeping all other factors such as panel
> thickness, grain direction, etc., the same) the two would result in a
sound
> envelope having a somewhat reduced higher harmonic content throughout,
i.e.,
> a 'warmer' sounding tone.
>
> In a very small piano the bass would probably suffer since generally the
low
> end is already pretty well choked off by the usually very short string
back
> scale and by the bridge's proximity to the edge of the soundboard and/or
the
> usually cantilever. If you impede the boards movement to the higher
> harmonics as well, there's not going to be much left. In a larger/longer
> piano, however, the bass--at least it's tone quality--might actually
> improve. The longer string backscale and better bridge placement allow
more
> soundboard/bridge mobility which will help the board respond to the low
> frequency vibrations in the strings. The greater mass of the board will
> impede the transfer of some of the wilder high harmonics. The result might
> well be quite pleasant.
>
> Through the mid-range you may not notice much difference between the two.
> The upper tenor and treble would probably be somewhat weaker, though with
> good, probably better, sustain time.
>
> Guessing at anything beyond this would be even wilder speculation than the
> above.
>
> Tweaking the design a bit might well result in a very pleasant piano. Yes,
> it would sound a bit different than a similar piano using a spruce board,
> but that is not to say it would be 'worse.' Or for that, 'better.' Just
> different.
>
>
>
> > Btw.. the reason I asked this in the first place was that I came
> > across an old beater that appeared to have a mahogany panel.
> > Didnt have time to look it over closely, and by now I think the
> > owner has used it for firewood, so I suppose I will never know..
>
> To bad.  At the price of real mahogany these days, that soundboard might
> have been worth something.
>
> Del
>
>