Steinway O

[Ron Overs]

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At 10:06 PM +0300 10/6/03, Calin Tantareanu wrote:
>
>. . . I am already impressed with its bass, which is damn good for a 
>180cm piano.
>It's a really strong typically Seinway bass, you could even say rough ;-)

Very likely!

>The only weird thing is, that contrary to what some people here say, the
>lowest A has a very long string (~140cm if I remember correctly, on a
>cantilever or apron bridge - what's the correct name?) and a very short
>backscale, yet it sounds good.
>What do you think?

Yes it does have a 140 cm speaking length at A1 with a short back scale.

While the instrument might seem to be performing well in the low 
bass, it would be even better if the speaking length was 4 - 5 cm 
shorter with a correspondingly increased back scale.

Yamaha have included the same design shortcoming (from my 
perspective) in their latest C3. They've gone from a speaking length 
of around 135 cm in the previous 183 cm C3 models to around 140 cm in 
the latest 185 cm version, with a much shorter back scale. For those 
of you with the opportunity to do A-B comparisons between the current 
and older versions of the C3, there is no contest. The latest might 
have the biggest numbers for the sales people to talk about, but 
what's the use since it doesn't speak?

Same deal with suspended or apron bridges. The inclusion of these in 
any piano demonstrates that the designer hasn't been paying attention 
to what's coming in via the ears. The O is an ideal piano to ditch 
the suspended bridge and undercut a couple of notes, since it has a 
straightish bass bridge (the 'hockey stick' style bass bridges don't 
respond quite as well to the undercut). The last couple of low notes 
could be undercut where the bridge meets the sound board panel 
without any problems, apart from a considerable tonal improvement.

The front duplexes are also very long on this model. If I were doing 
the repair I would cut them out with an angle grinder, fill the 
'valleys' with body filler and make up a new set of bars, hardening 
them, tapering the height of each to achieve a uniform string 
approach angle and positioning them to detune the front length while 
making them as short as possible (but talk to the client first and 
get their approval in writing, or you'll have S&S breathing down your 
neck to ruin your whole year - I lost 1997 but we survived). I'll try 
to organise an over head photo of the Steinway D which got this 
treatment late last year if anyone would like to see it. Anyone?

Just play chromatically up the last few agraffe notes of the O, 
crossing over into the duplex section to hear the organised chaos 
which begins immediately you cross to the duplexed section. When I 
hear this cacophony, all I want to do is reach for the angle grinder.

Ron O.
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OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY
Grand Piano Manufacturers

Web: http://overspianos.com.au
mailto:info@overspianos.com.au
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