<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.5730.11" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Ron...all</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  As one who now has a first hand,up close encounter with the Overs piano I'll testify that the sustain in the treble is truly remarkable in terms of clarity & sustain.  This was of perticular interest to me when I saw how much weight was screwed to the bottom of the bridge for mass loading.  It really is an effective modulator of sustain & power.  Even the aggraffed bridge pianos I've worked on didn't sound as good as this.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  I am reminded  of one other thing.....it's not one thing alone that creates the sound we hear in a given piano but many dynamic components.  Bearing,ribbings scale etc.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM> The challenge in this discussion is to try to extrapolate what does what in cyber space.  Kinda hard........?  but intriguing</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Dale</EM></STRONG></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>I can tell you from experience that adding mass to the treble end <BR>increases the sustain by a considerable amount. At this point in time <BR>I haven't done A-B tests with two instruments, one with agraffes and <BR>one with a standard bridge mass loaded. But I can tell you that we <BR>have direct experience of deliberately mass loading the treble to <BR>arrive at a desired balance between sustain and power. Here's an <BR>image of a re-manufactured piano which was mass loaded in the treble <BR>for this very reason.<BR><BR>http://members.optusnet.com.au/ronovers/overskawai8r.jpg<BR><BR>This piano was re-manufactured for the pianist, Gerard Willems, who <BR>has done a number of recordings using the Stuart piano here in <BR>Australia. Gerard had a Yamaha G2 in his home studio which was worn <BR>out. When he asked me about the possibility of rebuilding it for him <BR>I suggested finding a Kawai KG5 shell to re-manufacture it with our <BR>action and I-rib board with a new scale. We routinely mass load the <BR>high treble to achieve the sustain we're looking for. Those of you <BR>who saw our no. 6 piano at Rochester would have seen the mass loaded <BR>bridge.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>