Terry, >Junk hammers? I'll buy that. But why the HUGE change in tone across the >break? I would think that if all the hammers are whatever grade of junk, >then this must go way beyond hammers only. > >Del or Ron? Any input from a belly/scaling perspective? While I am unsure whether the BB you describe bears any scaling or bridge layout resemblance to the current BB, I had a look and listen to the new BB which was displayed at Reno (at a quiet time in the loading dock after the convention when our piano was being loaded out on the Monday morning). My impression of this instrument was that the impedance matching across the break between the treble and bass bridge was perhaps one of most varied I had encountered on a 7' grand. Its even more dramatic than the Steinway B. Both get progressively thinner toned heading down towards the break, then 'boomy' and 'fat' at the first note on the bass bridge. A quick look at the location (read distance) of the bridges out from the inner rim told the story. Tapping on the ends of the bridges further confirmed my suspicion (yes you can do this even when the piano is strung - try it!). The upper end of the bass bridge was located far away from the inner rim (as is typical on so many pianos), while the lower end of the treble bridge headed over towards the bass side to end up too close to the rim. The poor tonal transition was mostly a consequence of the bridge location on the board, but the 'hockey stick' treble scale didn't help either. The tension was obviously falling away rather badly towards to lower tenor area of the long bridge. I would like to get a copy of the speaking lengths and wire diameters if any one has info on hand. If anyone's got the scale I would like to get it as an attachment. Send it to mailto:ron@overspianos.com.au When there is a major change in the response of the board over the break, there is nothing the voicer can do to fix the transition. Actually, I was somewhat disappointed at the design of the BB. I had heard so much about the piano before going to Reno, so I was expecting something really good. Ron O -- ______________________________ Website: http://www.overspianos.com.au Email: mailto:ron@overspianos.com.au ______________________________
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