Hi John (and David). Indeed, this is the case with the 1873 Bechstein I'm working on, and on all Bechstein pianos I have seen so far (that are pre WWII Bechstein pianos). Eleven big screws go from the top of the plate through a block of hard wood (running all along the portion of the perimeter that is under the plate) which is glued on the soundboard, which is glued on the rim. I see no chance that the board can move even with no glue at all. While we are here, this fact, together with the fact that Bechstein soundboards are 8 mm thick all way around, and not tapered, can maybe explain that feeling that I have that Bechstein pre war pianos seem to be a bit less responsive than, say, Steinway pianos, with their tapered and not clamped diaphragmatic boards. Again, the Steinway design seems, as in many other places, superior. Yet, I happened often to have side by side a Steinway and a similar sized Bechstein, and I must say that I spent much more time playing the Bechstein piano. Question of charm. And of course, no, the Bechstein can not do effortless all what the Steinway can, but what he can do, he does so well. You simply have to follow him to where he leads you, and you have a damn good time, while the Steinway will follow you where you want. Just my subjective view, but maybe related to design issues ? Throws in the specious idea that charm can be determined by limitations. Think of black and white photography, which can outperform color pictures. Best regards. Stéphane Collin. -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of John Delacour Not usually in American pianos perhaps. Very usually in English and German pianos. On the older ones the hardwood strip is screwed down on top of the soundboard so that the board is clamped even before the metal frame goes in. JD
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