Stienway d-rolled bridge saga- report

[Ron Nossaman]

> While there are ways in which the 
> problems you describe can sometimes be ameliorated temporarily, the 
> correct fix is, of course, a new board.

There are? What might these ways be to temporarily ameliorate a 
collapsed soundboard as a field repair? I'd very much like to hear 
this in detail. Photos and testimonials welcome also, if available.


>  - This goes largely, but not exclusively co-equally to the much-debated 
> method of construction used, changes made in those methods over time 
> (beginning in the mid-1950s, and pretty much completed during the later 
> 1980s/early 1990s), and, like it or not, the combined problems faced by 
> all piano makers of decreasing quality both as to raw materials and 
> labor pool.

Elaborate please. Specifically what methods of soundboard 
construction changed at Steinway between the mid 1950s and the later 
1990s? I'm aware of the materials problem with compression crowned 
soundboard construction, as it's always been a problem, but how does 
the labor pool account for any of this? How much training is 
necessary to cook a panel?

Ron N