[pianotech] Hailun soundboards

[Richard Cromwell]

Samick's marketing department used to, and maybe they still do, refer to the
lamination of their soundboards as "Omni-directional surface tensioning".

I always liked that.  

It sounds so much more space-age.

 

Richard Cromwell

Pianotek Supply

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of George F Emerson
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 1:03 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Hailun soundboards

 

No, it is not a translation issue ....well, not Chinese to English
translation, rather Marketing-ese to Technician-ese.  The marketing folks
wanted to avoid any association with the terms "laminated" or "plywood," so
they came up with a term totally irrelevant to the soundboard structure,
implying a convex shape, expecting that the consumer would have no idea what
it really means, obscuring the reality with fancy rhetoric.

 

It reminds me of a famous English French horn player.  A group of younger
horn player were complaining of the impossible technical difficulty of a
ridiculously fast scale run in a classical masterpiece. (Rites of Spring,
maybe?)  The Englishman's response was, "Just wiggle your fingers about and
dazzle 'me with science, Boys."

 

Here is the Technician-ese translation:  The Hailun soundboards in uprights
and smaller grands is laminated.  They have three plies with a lumber core,
and veneer laminations, top and bottom.  Unlike traditional plywood, the
surface veneer is at 15 degrees to the core (not 90).  The design intent is
to preserve much of the flexibility of a solid panel, with the resistance to
cracking of a laminated board, the best of both worlds.  

 

To read what another manufacturer might write to describe the exact same
thing might sound like something entirely different, in Marketing-ese.

 

 

Frank Emerson

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: J Patrick Draine <mailto:jpdraine at gmail.com>  

To: pianotech at ptg.org 

Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 9:32 PM

Subject: Re: [pianotech] Hailun soundboards

 

It appears to be an inexact translation of a spec list/description. Gimme
the original Chinese and I'll see if I can do better. 

Patrick Draine

On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 8:56 PM, Mckeever, James I <mckeever at uwp.edu> wrote:

 

 

The soundboard on Hailun uprights and smaller grands is described as
follows:

 

"All mountain spruce with 15 degree spruce meniscus coating for climatic
resistance and flexibility."

 

Never heard of it!  Is it a good thing?  How might it affect the sound?  The
Hailun's I have played are surprisingly resonant, with good sustain.

 

Comments encouraged!

 

Thanks,

 

Jim McKeever

University of Wisconsin-Parkside

 

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