Laminated soundboard panels

[Farrell]

I service a 1989 4' 11" Baldwin grand #B290249. I just tuned it again the other day. I had posted on this one a while back - laminated board, ribs not notched into rim, straight taper on ribs, fanned rib pattern, big bass section,  bass bridge not connected to board on bottom few notes, bridge curve opposite most, no hockey stick tenor bridge, etc., etc. Looked like Del's finger prints all over this one. 

I measured it at 4' 11" (148 cm) - could be an inch bigger. I might assume this is one of the ones you are referring to Del? Whereas this is a small piano, and I doubt the Florida Orchestra would ever pick it as their favorite, it really is quite a nice little piano. For the string scale size of a spinet, it sounds like one of the nicest studio-sized pianos I have ever heard. No killer octave and a smooth pass over the bass break.

I just remember the inner rim to outer rim connection. Looked like some clown went wild with a bunch of drywall screws under there. Real hack job - but it seems to have joined the two pieces.

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Delwin D Fandrich" <pianobuilders@olynet.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 2:02 PM
Subject: Re: Laminated soundboard panels



----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Nossaman" <RNossaman@cox.net>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: December 02, 2002 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: Laminated soundboard panels


>
> >Yes. The original Baldwin 148 design had the faces at a 30º angle to the
> >core.
> >
> >For most of the reasons you mention.
> >
> >Del.
>
>
> I note the word "original", and don't recall seeing laminations in these
> boards. Though I miss plenty of other obvious things on a regular basis.
> How did they manage to delete a good idea like that from the design and
> keep that compression crowned bridge? Or was it that the laminated panel
> didn't further compression crown those 72' radius ribs like a solid panel
> does? I presume they nixed any deviation from "standard" crown radii too.


I don't really know what happened to the design between prototype and
production. (H-148 refers to the working title given to the project back
when it was scheduled to be called a Hamilton and the piano was to be 148 cm
long. The name was later changed and the piano grew just a bit, ending up
just shy of 150 cm long.)

Those few early production pianos I saw in dealer's showrooms still had
laminated, all-spruce soundboards (originally built at the old Wurlitzer
plant in Holly Springs) though I couldn't tell anything about grain angles.
And they looked like they still had pre-crowned ribs laid out pretty much
like I intended -- i.e., in a radial pattern. I've no idea what, how or
where the actual crown ended up. It was supposedly milled in at the old
Posey plant and was always some problematic -- most days we were happy to
just have some.

Anyway, after looking at a few production instruments on and off during the
first couple of years I became so disgusted with their incredibly erratic
build quality I gave up and tried to ignore the later instruments.

Del


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