<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> <div><font size="+0"><br> <br> "It is a verry small soundboard and the string pressure moved the board</font></div> <div><font size="+0">downward causing a dip around the bridge."</font></div> <div> </div> <div><strong><font size="4">That is definately a "failure" of the wood. Especially, since those instruments had/have little or no downbearing to begin with, in my experience. The 1805 Clementi, that I care for, has a much worse soundboard scenario....it is buckled in the "killer octave" area. It has almost zero sustain and is pretty "thumpy". Definately  failure of wood structure, IMO.<br> </font></strong><font size="+0"><big><br> Joe,</big><br> <br> </font><strong><font size="4">Have you looked at the sound boards on many harpsichords?  Some of the Flemish soundboards normally "buckle" alarmingly to a piano tuner's eye.<br> <br> Blaine Hebert<br> </font></strong></div> </body> </html>