At 23:30 +0000 22/3/09, John Delacour wrote: >Kirkman's tall bridges, on the grands at least, were built of spruce >with a thick (about 1/2") beech capping and steep notches. Sound >travels faster in spruce. I've just dusted off one of the uprights, which has a bridge fully 45mm at the treble end. This also has a slow-grown spruce (about 1.5 mm per annum) root with the rings parallel to the soundboard, and the top is of beech about 15 mm deep. This piano advertises itself as a "Vertical Iron Grand". I remove the name-rail and the fall when asking people to assess it and everyone comments that it sounds and behaves like a grand, without knowing what it is. I am convinced that its quality is due largely to the bridge, combined with a very good string scale (agraffes all through). JD
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