<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; =
charset=US-ASCII">
<TITLE>Message</TITLE>
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2604" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV><SPAN class=901131814-09032005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2>Before
the list gets all worked up over the Kawai CX-5H please note it is a =
model no
longer available in the US. The soundboard grain is vertical =
because it
has a laminated soundboard (none of the presently made Kawai models have =
this
feature). The CX-5H has a full perimeter plate and therefore =
doesn't
require the support of the back post. I will let Kawai explain why =
they
choose to produce this model but to their credit when they realized =
their
mistake they moved away from it. Don't throw the baby out with the =
bath
water!</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=901131814-09032005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=901131814-09032005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2>Richard Raskob RPT</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr =
align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <B>On =
Behalf Of
</B>Tvak@aol.com<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, March 09, 2005 6:44
AM<BR><B>To:</B> pianotech@ptg.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Kawai=the new
Lester?<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT =
face=Geneva
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">List<BR><BR>Just tuned a =
Kawai
vertical, a CX-5H. I have always thought of Kawai as one of the =
better
brands of piano. But the design elements of this piano make me =
wonder if
they continue to aspire to quality. <BR><BR>First of all, this =
piano had
a soundboard with the grain orientation vertical! I had always =
read that
the best orientation for soundboard grain on a vertical was =
diagonal.
Cheap pianos had the grain horizontal because it took less wood =
(lengthwise)
to do it this way. I've never seen vertical grain =
orientation
before, but I'm guessing it's for the same reason, and it ain't =
because it
sounds better this way. The tone of this piano? Well, the =
top two
octaves were pretty weak. Not much sustain, not much
brightness.<BR><BR>There were also no wooden frame support beams in =
the
back. Completely open. Again, from what I understand beams =
bracing
the frame are there to help tuning stability by stiffening the =
structure of
the piano. Perhaps, just a coincidence, but this piano, which =
was one of
three that I tuned in the same building, was the only one that needed =
a pitch
raise. Following a tuning 6 months ago (by another tuner), this =
piano
was 35 cents flat in the center, and nearly 100 cents flat in octave =
7.
The bass strings were generally 15 to 25 cents flat. The other =
two
pianos were within 4 cents of A440.<BR><BR>I also noticed that the =
action had
only two brackets attaching it to the plate, one on each end. =
There was
a hole in the plate at the tenor break where a third bracket could =
have been
attached, but there was nothing on the action there. Perhaps =
this plate
is shared by another model in the Kawai line that does have a third =
bracket
there. Or maybe they elminated the bracket after designing =
the
plate with the hole already there. <BR><BR>So maybe I'm =
misinformed
about some of the above elements of pianos in general. If so, =
I'm sure
someone will enlighten me. And that's what this list is all =
about.
But from my humble viewpoint, the Kawai CX-5H has quite a few corners =
cut,
resulting in a piano that makes me contemplate Kawais in =
general.
<BR><BR>Tom Sivak<BR>Chicago PTG Associate</FONT><FONT face=Geneva
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"></FONT>
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>