Andy - The gap between the plate and the rim in itself is entirely normal, and is in fact necessary when installing the plate, since it is lowered down into the piano. When the plate is too tight of a fit, it's hard not to scratch the finish on the inside of the rim in the process of installation. What I haven't seen before when looking down is the floor. Other, more experienced techs who replace soundboards on a regular basis would know better, but I'm thinking that there's a separation problem here which would need to be addressed. Then again, in what I've seen with the Chickerings that have come through our shop, I have come across other unusual designs. It always seemed to me as if they must have done a lot of experimentation. Chuck -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090505/7e6a3767/attachment.html>
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