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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Wimblees@AOL.COM =
href="mailto:Wimblees@AOL.COM">Wimblees@AOL.COM</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> September 11, 2001 5:54 =
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> new soundboard was Re: =
Killer
Octave - Warranty Issue?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>In a =
message dated
9/10/01 7:44:05 PM Central Daylight Time, <BR><A
href="mailto:RNossaman@KSCABLE.com">RNossaman@KSCABLE.com</A> =
writes:
<BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px =
solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
TYPE="CITE">I wonder which expensive piano that might be that gets =
sent back
through for <BR>soundboard replacement when the problem is =
"discovered"?
With such a fine QC <BR>and recursive correction system in place, I =
surely
must be imagining all <BR>those <BR>killer octaves, zero bearing, =
and
negative crowned soundboards in all those <BR>expensive pianos as =
well as in
the cheap ones. </FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 =
size=3
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080></FONT><FONT =
face="Lucida Sans"
color=#000080></FONT><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial =
color=#000000 size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF">Ron <BR><BR>Point well taken. But that opens up a =
whole new
subject. Perhaps Del, or one <BR>of the factory reps, can chime in on =
this. At
what point does a manufacturer <BR>say, "this isn't done right, lets =
do it
again." There's got to be some QC. If <BR>the engineering is done =
right, and
the jigs make the parts the same way, how <BR>come one piano has a =
great
sound, and another, from the same line, same <BR>factory, same people, =
is
dead? What is the criteria in the factory for <BR>replacing the board? =
<HR>
</FONT></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>I rather doubt it's ever done. There is, from =
time to
time, some attempt made to fix a particular problem, but it would be in =
the form
of heroic voicing procedures, not something like replacing the
soundboard.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>I once observed that a few ribs through the =
treble
section of a production grand piano were being feathered incorrectly--it =
was
being done backwards. This meant that the thinnest portion of the ribs =
passed
underneath the bridge through roughly the upper third of the scale. =
After some
period of denial--"That's how they're supposed to be." "That's how we've =
always
done them." "Nothing has changed."--it was acknowledged that what I was =
standing
there looking at was actually the case and should probably be corrected =
sometime
soon. Since this had already been going on for several years it was not =
felt
that any of the carefully hand-crafted pianos already in process needed =
to be
fixed despite the general agreement that this little problem would =
probably
explain the rather disastrous performance through the =
treble--particularly
through the killer-octave region--of the piano in question. =
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>So, no. I would say it would be a pretty rare =
occurrence for a piano to go back for something like a new soundboard =
just
because there was no crown, no downbearing or no performance. =
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>In the case of limited downbearing I doubt =
that crown
would even be checked. Probably the plate would be reset or, more =
likely, the
nosebolts would be adjusted to bend the plate (Yes, Martha, bending the =
plate.
Even though, according to the official factory tour guide, this is never =
done at
the Bauble Creek Piano & Clock Manufacturing Co.!) down until the =
bearing
measurements are reasonably close to what they are supposed to be. =
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>Keep in mind that the workers building these =
pianos are
not idiots. Neither are they highly skilled technicians and/or =
rebuilders with a
broad background in, and understanding of, piano technology. They =
are,
instead, smart and highly skilled factory workers who know a great deal =
about
getting their assigned tasks completed quickly and efficiently. When =
something
comes down the line that doesn't quite work, there is great pressure on =
those
workers to make it work given the tools and materials available. And, =
since they
are smart and highly skilled, whatever the problem is, it is =
made to
work and the piano goes on down the line.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>It would be nice to believe that any major =
mistake
would be caught by the supervisors but, of course, the supervisors =
get
where they are because they also are smart and have proven to be =
particularly
skilled at 'fixing' problems like this back while they were production
workers.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>Quality control in either low- or high- =
production
pianos is a sometime thing and is not necessarily geared to ensuring the =
best of
acoustical performance. It is at its best when it comes to getting =
things to fit
and to getting the visual details and finishing done perfectly because =
these are
the things we technicians, along with the various piano =
distributors, piano
dealers and the piano buying public, all deem to be most important.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>In the case of something like soundboard =
function--a
function poorly understood by many manufacturers--it is unrealistic to =
believe
problems of the sort you folks have been discussing would even be fully
recognized, let alone identified with any kind of understanding of how =
to deal
with them. Unfortunately, it has been a long time since the piano =
industry
collectively has considered tone and action performance to be a real and =
serious
quality issue, else we would not have come to the place of accepting the =
hard,
linear sound of today's piano as consistent with good production =
quality. Nor
would we be accepting the mediocre action performance found in many =
pianos
throughout the price spectrum.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>It has been my observation that 'quality =
control' in
today's piano factory is most often applied to the production process. =
When I
began studying the possibilities and processes of building low-cost,
high-production pianos it quickly became obvious that it would be =
vital to
carefully control 'quality'--as identified by component tolerances--at =
every
stage of the process simply as a cost control measure. This represented =
a change
from the traditional "American" piano production process which depends =
rather
much on the skilled, hand-fitting of the various components that go into =
the
piano. The bellyrail is made in one shop to rather loose tolerances and =
sent
over to rim assembly where it is trimmed and fit to the rim. (An =
example, but
you get the idea.) Production tolerances applied to each component are =
rather
loose with the final fit being determined by the various skilled workers =
along
the line. To build low-cost, high-production pianos, it is vital to have =
that
belly rail cut to very precise tolerances so that no hand fitting is =
ever
required during assembly. Obviously, the latter process will require =
much more
expensive machinery and much tighter controls all along the line. =
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>Throughout the traditional piano making =
process the
emphasis is on making things fit and making things look good, and not at =
all on
ensuring that the acoustics work. Ron N makes the point, if I understand =
him
correctly, that the manufacturers are unconcerned about soundboard
functionality; a position with which I'm not sure I agree--although the =
effect
on the final product will be the same. I don't think it is a lack of =
concern as
much as it is a lack of understanding. And, since people--regardless of =
their
salaries and positions--fear what they do not understand and tend to =
avoid what
they fear, there is a tendency to simply avoid the whole issue. For the =
same
reasons they also tend to avoid making changes to their established =
designs and
processes that might lead to solutions to the problems they have =
convinced
themselves don't exist.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>It is also important to understand that some =
of the
companies you folks are now most critical of have, over the years, tried =
various
changes--at the time considered to be improvements--to the pianos we =
know and
love. Obviously these changes did show initial promise or they'd =
not have
been introduced, but some of them later proved to be disasters. One of =
the
difficulties our industry constantly faces is that it sometimes takes =
years for
the unintended side effects of a change to work themselves out and for =
any
potential problems to become evident. And we are not an industry that =
forgives
or forgets easily when things do go wrong. Problems the auto industry =
simply
shrugs off, the piano industry--mostly via us technicians--remembers for =
decades. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>If, and only if, the piano market once again =
begins to
regard the piano as a vital component in the ongoing work of art known =
as music
and then demands that the piano once again, consistently and =
competently,
exhibit the qualities necessary to produce that music, can all of
this change. Personally, I think the marketplace is right now =
sending the
industry a message via their pocketbooks. The marketplace is keeping is
increasingly keeping that pocketbook closed. I think it is demanding =
more
musical and more appropriate pianos for today's society. Unless it finds =
them it
will go elsewhere and buy other things. It remains to be seen whether or =
not the
industry gets the message. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>It is entirely possible to build both =
limited- and
high- production that consistently deliver both good action and tone
performance. (Actually, it is easier to design and manufacture good tone =
performance than it is to deliver consistently good action =
performance--fewer
parts involved.) But, our emphasis will have to change. Beautiful =
cosmetic
detailing and perfectly flat polyester finishes do not a good piano =
make.
But that is what we have been demanding and worshiping for the past =
thirty years
and that is what we have gotten. Perhaps now it is time to go back to =
work and
bring back--and build on--the musicality of the past.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>Well, again I ramble, so will =
close....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>Del</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>Delwin D Fandrich<BR>Piano Designer &
Builder<BR>Hoquiam, Washington USA<BR>E.mail: <A
href="mailto:pianobuilders@olynet.com">pianobuilders@olynet.com</A><BR>=
Web
Site: <A
href="http://www.pianobuilders.com">www.pianobuilders.com</A></FONT></D=
IV>
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