Greetings,
I suppose the best sounding piano I have ever heard is a 1946 Steinway B.
It is one of two sequential pianos that were made for the RCA broadcast
studios in New York. Five years later, it was sent down to Nashville to be used in
the newly opened recording studio here, (known as Studio B, a converted
Quonset hut). This piano was used for virtually all the major hits that came from
Nashville between 1955 and 1970. Elvis used this piano for his sessions here,
and Floyd Cramer recorded the first million seller ("Last Date") on this
piano. Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, etc. all recorded their hits there. It is still
in the studio, which is now a museum.
The intriguing thing about this piano is the soundboard. It is, without
question, the finest spruce I have ever seen. Every piece is perfectly even. I
have a theory.
As I understand it, during the war effort, Steinway was commisioned to
make spruce wing struts for the gliders. If so, then they bought the wood on
government contract. (My family also sold wood during the war, but it was
long-leaf southern pine that was used for the keels of wooden mine-sweepers.
Something like 12"x36"x 70' long!) Anyhow, I remember my father speaking of how
stringent the government inspectors were, and if so, then that spruce used in the
gliders was probably perfect. I guess that after the war, there was still
some of it left at the factory and they used it in their soundboards.
This piano has a sound that I haven't heard anywhere else, and the fact
that it spent 5 or 6 years as the network's broadcast piano in New York, and
then another 20 years being used for the biggest hits to come out of Nashville
seems to back its reputation. (for contrast, the 120 million records that
Garth Brooks sold used a 1920's vintage model M that I rebuilt in 1986, it isn't
anywhere near the piano that is in Studio B).
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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