<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2716.2200" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Hi Dale,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>This is another one of those "please explain" threads with no = proven answers.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Whilst I was in China I went to a City called Yenti ?. there was a = piano manufacturer there that was making upright pianos based on the Kawai = piano. Now these pianos had soundboards with tapered ribs but,  the ribs = ended about 1" before the rim and was terminated by a screw through the = soundboard, rib and into a holding block of wood.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>This meant that the board was fixed at its outer edge only by the = board itself.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>To me this is getting into the radio speaker method with a freer = edge to allow the board to be more sympathetic to the strings vibrations.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>All my work in China was done through interpreters so I may have = some miss information but I saw the soundboard with my own eyes.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Regards</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tony</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=Erwinspiano@AOL.COM href="mailto:Erwinspiano@AOL.COM">Erwinspiano@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> Friday, July 19, 2002 = 12:14 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Untapered = Soundboard Ribs</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 = style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face="Times New Roman" color=#800040 size=3 FAMILY="SERIF">I = believe that"s the concept but in practice how much tapering is up for grabs. = Remember the George Fredrick Stein grand piano I posted about a while back? Same = deal as the Mehlin. Zip taper nice sound. Funny you should bring this up As = I've been thinking about this lately too.<BR>     One = thought is I think too much thinning is overrated. Second though is that a rib with = a cut radius does taper from the middle out any way so just feather that off = into the notch but not as severe as the old style. I,m doing a Baldwin = right now that I'm trying this on. On the long ribs I think this is not a huge = risk but up along the belly rail where traditionally the cutouts are mighty = severe and intentional leads me to believe this is more critical especially as = the bridge gets closer to the belly rail, know what I mean? It would seem that if = the killer octave lacks stiffness in that area any way why thin it out? = This is my question.<BR>    I'd like to hear other opinions as well.<BR>>>>>>>>>>Dale Erwin>>>>>>>>>>></FONT><FONT lang=0 = style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#800040 = size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 = style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 = FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face="Times New Roman" = color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SERIF"><FONT size=3>Tony = Caught<BR>Darwin<BR>Australia<BR></FONT><A href="mailto:caute@optusnet.com.au"><FONT size=3>caute@optusnet.com.au</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 = style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face="Times New Roman" color=#000000 size=2 = FAMILY="SERIF"><FONT face=Arial size=3><BR>---<BR>Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.<BR>Checked = by AVG anti-virus system (<A = href="http://www.grisoft.com">http://www.grisoft.com</A>).<BR>Version: = 6.0.373 / Virus Database: 208 - Release Date: 01/07/02</FONT><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>