Steinway B Scaling

[Richard Brekne]

Thanks Delwin for answering the whole question, and as about as
completely as possible me thinks. I had suspected that something along
these lines was the case. And after reading your post it struck me that
after 4 + years of reading yours and others words and experience I
perhaps should have been able to have supplied the fellow with much the
same answer. (see your last paragraph especially). 

Thanks agin :)

RicB


Delwin D Fandrich wrote:
> 
> Richard Brekne wrote:
> > Seems like he wants what he thinks is the Yamaha bass... upto about C2,
> > and then he wants what he has in the "B".
> >
> > He has heard from another technician some things about rescaling the
> > bass and I suppose he's in doubt as to whether or not he should spend
> > the money.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > RicB
> 
> I tend to agree with whoever it was that said something like, "If he wants a
> Yamaha bass he should get a Yamaha."
> 
> Rescaling the bass of a piano will do many things but it will not make a
> Steinway B sound like a Yamaha. Nor should it be expected to.
> 
> Rescaling can even things out -- the bass scale of the Model B (like most of
> the early scales) is some erratic. If the rescaling efforts are extended up
> into the tenor section a bit it can smooth out a rather awkward bass/tenor
> crossover. It can open up the low mono-chord section -- the Model B scale
> starts out using 0.063" (1.6 mm) core wire, the flexibility of which is
> approaching that of a steel rod.
> 
> But rescaling the bass will not make it sound like a Yamaha. Nor will it
> make the piano sound "a foot longer." Nor will it make the piano sound
> appreciably more "powerful."
> 
> No, the idea with this kind of work -- whether its simple string rescaling
> or whole piano redesign -- is (or at least should be) to make the piano
> sound more like the original piano but without the knarlies. Without the
> thuddy, indistinct bass. Without the uneven bass/tenor crossover. And
> without the weak, percussive upper tenor and treble sections. But otherwise
> retaining the essential character if the original. Even our own extensive
> redesign work leaves the piano with the essential character if the original.
> Though the "original" we're referring to harkens back to an earlier,
> somewhat warmer and more melodic (musical?) age.
> 
> All of which leaves the question: Could a Steinway B bass be "rescaled" to
> sound like a Yamaha?" Well, yes, it could. At least we could come close. The
> whole bass will have to be scaled to a somewhat higher tension. Of course,
> that will overload the soundboard assembly so it will have to be replaced
> with one that is considerably stiffer than the original. Since the original
> B tenor/treble scaling will lack the energy to drive this new soundboard,
> the strings up there will have to be rescaled as well. A bit more length and
> mass (& tension) should do the trick. Now, since the original hammers will
> lack the dynamic energy needed to drive the soundboard, they will have to be
> replaced with something both more dense and more massive. This,
> unfortunately, will overload the action so we'll have to do something about
> that. And, finally, we'll have to be prepared for the owner complaining that
> the whole piano sounds just like a Yamaha.... But, not to worry! With just a
> little rescaling we can fix that....
> 
> Del
> 
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-- 
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
UiB, Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no
http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html