No downbearing ?

[Ron Nossaman]

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>   >Ron--As with many double standards the difference is econmics which is 
> the case  between Grands & uprights. A grand is always about 3 times as 
> expenseive which means the upright got about 3 times less of something.

But not necessarily tone quality. I've seen a lot of people buy grands that 
were both more expensive, and not nearly as good sounding as a vertical 
they looked at, just because it was a grand. They tell me that old dead 
uprights sound good because they sound less bad than a newer spinet, not 
because they sound particularly good. My point is that uprights and grands 
aren't judged in sound quality by the same criteria, if sound quality is 
ever considered at all.


> >> What I mean by this statement was a take off to what Jean- Jacques 
> original post was about ,in that the soundboard doesn't require bearing & 
> crown to have the strings energy transferred to it, just coupling. The 
> mass component I refer to is  the stiffness & mass of the soundboard 
> panel & ribs but minus the crown & bearing squash for additional stiffness.

Then the soundboard as you found it when you tore the piano down was 
essentially the same as when it was built, if it was designed to not 
require bearing or crown. I would take that to mean that the soundboard 
hadn't been under any particular stress all those years, since none was 
presumably built in, would therefor not have deteriorated in any meaningful 
way, and would function pretty much as designed by just fixing the bridge 
caps and restringing it. Why then did you epoxy the board?


> >>>>> Notice I didn't say very nice,considering or better, I said 
> amazing. The flat board was set up with some bearing but not that much. 
> The tonal improvRe No downbearing .ems ements come primarily from (some) 
> bearing and tight bridge pins in maple & new strings of course.
>Not very filling. Again, stiffening the board with epoxy "contributed to
>the tonal factor", but it's still somehow a mass driven system that was
>designed to be without crown or bearing. I'd like a little gravy with these
>grits please.
>
>Ron N
> >>OK I'll go that one with you but If the epoxy added any additional 
> stiffness to the board then would it not improve tonal output? However I 
> won't bet on the ponies with this one.

I would think it would - if the soundboard was in need of stiffening, which 
shouldn't be the case if it were a "mass driven" system designed with the 
need for neither crown, nor bearing. The philosophy doesn't fit the method 
here, which is why I asked.


>Mainly this piano sounds good because of superior American 
>Cra(P)ftsmanship.grin
>    Regards--Dale

I agree. That fine American epoxy probably did the trick.


>    Got a good storm going out here today & its coming your way

Good! It's been in the 50s and 60s here since before Christmas, and I'm 
ready for some more cold and snow. The yard is still green and I want some 
Winter to KILL the BUGS (a cloud of which I walked through on the way out 
to the truck last weekend)!

Ron N

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