<html>
Del and all,<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>I have
changed the font and size of the paragraph below that is not mine. This
is not a big point but, credit where credit is dues and all.<br><br>
<br><br>
At 03:35 PM 9/5/2002, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Phil,<br><br>
I hope you don't mind--I've put this back on pianotech. The scans went
out<br>
in two batches and it looks like there will be yet a third. I should
have<br>
waited<br><br>
More comments below....<br><br>
Del<br>
------------------------------------------<br><br>
> From Greg Newell (I think)<br>
> Folks,<br>
> These are some
very interesting ideas. Some quick observations if<br>
> I may. While the sandwiching of wood and steel may offer a
structure that<br>
> is capable of handling the stresses we require of it I'm not so sure
this<br>
> is the way to go. Does not this construction disallow any attempts
at<br>
> rebuilding in the future? How would one replace a pin block
here?<br><br>
One wouldn't. It's a disposable piano. Much like many of the
pianos--both<br>
grands & verticals flooding the market just now.<br><br>
><br>
> Also the<br>
> 20% larger soundboard area is not necessarily a good thing if more
of it<br>
is<br>
> tone robbing without any sort of cut off bars or the like.<br><br>
It's not at all a good thing. But then, this was designed and built back
in<br>
the days when it was still assumed that soundboards were
"amplifiers" and<br>
bigger was better.<br><br>
><br>
> I like the fact<br>
> that the ribs are crowned and therefor will hold a more permanent
crowning<br>
> of the soundboard. The bridges still seems to be a little funky
though. In<br>
> the center picture in the first attachment I see that the bass
bridge is<br>
> still, at least partially, cantilevered. This seems to have resulted
in a<br>
> very short back scale length in order for them to get their
bragging<br>
rights<br>
> of a 62" long speaking length of A0. Who cares?<br><br>
The marketing department and the local salespeople care. Other than that,
no<br>
one cares. Yes the backscale is too short and the bass bridge is<br>
cantilevered. Though, considering the type, not by much. Neither of
these<br>
'features' is critical to the string panel concept and could easily
be<br>
modified (at the factory).<br><br>
<font face="Baskerville" size=5>><br>
> Also the long bridge seems to be split in two to allow for the heavy
plate<br>
> strut. This must have an interesting affect on the tone in
that area.<br>
> The long bridge also appears to be very tall, if I'm getting the
right<br>
picture<br>
> from the pictures. I would be concerned about all that mass at
the top<br>
end.<br>
</font><br>
Yes the long bridge was split. But, if you look at the picture of the
back<br>
of the soundboard you will see a coupler. I don't recall that there was
any<br>
particular tonal problem across this split, but I only saw the piano at
a<br>
trade show and didn't have a chance to really evaluate the tone
quality--or<br>
lack thereof. And yes the bridge was a bit on the tall side. The
string<br>
panel was relatively thick.<br><br>
><br>
> --- Other hype turned me off too but these are the first ones I saw.
I<br>
> won't belabor all the points in the articles but I am happy that at
least<br>
> the status quo is being challenged somewhat. Thoughts?<br>
><br>
> Greg<br>
------------------------------<br><br>
<br>
From Phil Ford (I think):<br><br>
> 'Computer machined steel is sandwich or strata constructed in
layers'.<br>
><br>
> This makes it sound like they are laminating sheets of steel
together. I<br>
> wouldn't think that would be the case. Why would you? I
think you would<br>
> machine the face plate to the thickness, or thicknesses if you
wanted it<br>
> different thickness at different places, and bond it to the
core. Some of<br>
the<br>
> pictures made it look like the steel faces were on both sides of the
core<br>
> (which is what I would expect) and others made it look like the
steel face<br>
was<br>
> only on one side. Maybe it was just the camera
angle.<br><br>
It's camera angle. The construction was three-piece: the faces were
sheet<br>
steel (about 1/16" [1.5mm] or 1/8" [3mm] thick--I don't
remember exactly)<br>
bonded to what looked like MDF. The MDF was approximately 1-1/4"
(32mm) to<br>
1-1/2" (38mm) thick. There was a separate steel bass hitchpin riser.
In the<br>
one edge-on picture of the pinblock section what looks like a thick
steel<br>
backing was a steel backing--it was probably needed to add stiffness
across<br>
the tuning pin area.<br><br>
><br>
> 'Many times the yield strength of conventional studios'.<br>
><br>
> I found this hard to believe. Cast iron is pretty strong in
compression.<br>
> Most of the strength of this panel is from the steel face sheets,
which<br>
are<br>
> relatively thin. The plate struts are wide, so there is still
a fair<br>
amount<br>
> of steel cross sectional area, but probably not much, if any, more
than a<br>
> typical cast iron strut.<br><br>
According to the engineer I talked to there was 'far less' twisting going
on<br>
while the backs were chipped to pitch. Compared to what--I don't
know.<br><br>
><br>
> 'Extra layers of steel within reinforce critical areas on the panel
where<br>
> needed.'<br>
><br>
> I assume this means that they have steel under the face plates in
the<br>
areas of<br>
> the hitch pins, rather than having them driven into the wood
core.<br><br>
No, mostly backing for the tuning pin area, as I recall.<br><br>
><br>
> I notice also that the hitch pins for the bass section are on a
separate<br>
block<br>
> which seems to be bolted onto the plate.<br><br>
Yes. For height.<br><br>
><br>
> 'Wood product core'.<br>
><br>
> I don't know what this means. There's really no need for the
core to be<br>
high<br>
> strength, so I would use the lightest and/or cheapest wood that I
could.<br>
I<br>
> assume that they did the same.<br><br>
It means MDF.<br><br>
><br>
> 'The structure allows the elimination of the conventional back frame
and<br>
> posts'.<br>
><br>
> This is a subject that has been discussed before. This seems
to assume<br>
that<br>
> the purpose of the frame is to help support string load. I
don't think<br>
that's<br>
> the case, so I don't see any less reason to have a back frame on
this<br>
piano<br>
> than on a more conventional piano.<br><br>
The back assembly in most verticals does contribute to the overall
rigidity<br>
of the assembly in that it keeps the plate from twisting. The actual
string<br>
load is born by the plate.<br><br>
><br>
> '15% more of the tuning pin to rest in the pinblock'.<br>
><br>
> I don't see that as an advantage. If that's all you want, then
use a<br>
longer<br>
> tuning pin. The advantage which they fail to mention is, since
the face<br>
plate<br>
> appears to be thinnner than a typical casting, the distance of the
string<br>
to<br>
> the top of the pinblock can be less, resulting in less tuning pin
bending.<br><br>
Or, even better, an open-faced block.<br><br>
><br>
> It wasn't clear to me from the pictures if the steel face plate over
the<br>
> tuning pin holes is counterbored, so that the tuning pins are
not<br>
contacting<br>
> the steel face, or if the hole is drilled through steel and pinblock
and<br>
the<br>
> tuning pin driven in so that it's contacting both.<br><br>
Sorry, I don't remember.<br><br>
><br>
> The tuning pins are nicely spaced out in the field of the plate,
which is<br>
nice<br>
> from a structural standpoint. But I believe Del indicated that
this<br>
actually<br>
> caused a problem in service. I tried to find an older e-mail
on this<br>
subject<br>
> but couldn't lay my hands on it right away. I believe that
some of the<br>
treble<br>
> tuning pins being right next to the pressure bar and some being very
far<br>
away<br>
> caused tuning problems. Del?<br><br>
Other than fuss with a few unisons I did not actually tune one but was
told<br>
by several that it made tuning quite difficult through the upper
treble.<br><br>
><br>
> One additional thing that I found interesting about this plate is
that<br>
it's<br>
> gold. Since this is supposed to be the latest high tech thing
why not<br>
make it<br>
> look different? Why try to make it look like a conventional
piano plate?<br><br>
Tradition?<br><br>
><br>
> 'Monolithic Construction'.<br>
><br>
> I wasn't completely clear on what this was, but it sounds primitive
(I<br>
think<br>
> the marketing department should have selected a different
word).<br><br>
It was intended to indicate that all of the structural strength came
from<br>
the string panel and did not depend on a separate back assembly. But, as
you<br>
point out....<br><br>
Del</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Greg Newell<br>
<a href="mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net" eudora="autourl">mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net</a></html>