<!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> RIc</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM> Ah.. ha. Now your talking my language. Now
you've finally gotten around to the message that David Andersen &
I have been verbalizing & pumping for quite some time
now. All My belly head colleagues on list & in the gallery clearly
understand & promote the value added piano that custom
restoration/design produces. </EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM> IMHO C. R. equals unparrelled sound, touch &
beauty. Professional pianist & ameteurs alike are weary of the mass
produced sound & touch & the marketing schpeel that goes with it.
Their ears are aching for a highly refined piano that lights up their soul, And
the attendees at Rochester made this abundantly clear ....they are ready for
something new & can hear the difference. </EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM> One frustration/risk has been that when we speak
enthusiastically of our own pianos or speak of a subjective tonal
experiences we run the risk of appearing to be some kind of prima donnas or some
one selling the emperors new clothes so we/many have been careful as to how much
we can say. Truth is we are very excited about the sound we are hearing
&<FONT size=5> Love</FONT> hearing piano music played on instruments
that a pianist has tonal Carte Blanche.</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM> Up to now it's a hard sell though because it's an uphill
battle against all the marketing & misinformation put out by dealers.
Some folks get it & others don't. Some folks hear & feel the difference
& understand that the perception of Custom restoration is <FONT
size=4>REAL</FONT>! However as networking thru our members gets the word
out more folks are hitting our web sites with requests for information &
piano for sale. More techs are calling us for belly work. It's
gratifying but we have a long way to go to change perception & frankly the
best way to do it is to have events like the Rebuilders Gallery where we can put
our hands & ears on the real deal & experience a brand new flavor &
nuance. Hearing is not believing it's knowing</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM> Ain't it great!!</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM> Dale Erwin</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>Hi
Dale<BR><BR>All other perceptions and issues aside.... what you describe below
is <BR>actually my big hope for the industry at large. It has seemed
apparent <BR>to me for a long time that the potential for the <<one man
shop>> to <BR>make the absolute best instruments around is a moment just
waiting for <BR>its time. I'm actually amazed that mass production in
its many forms <BR>ends up doing as well as it does. But the potential
for quality that <BR>lies in the <<one man shop>> really can
outstrip any factory IMHO. Its <BR>just a concept waiting for its time
in this industry I think. Let the <BR>mass production pianos be for the
masses.... and let the serious <BR>pianists of the world finally wake up to
the fact that music is not <BR>about predictability... especially since that
is largely an illusion to <BR>begin with.... and open up for a world of
tonality and quality that <BR>could exist if they would just start looking
more seriously at <BR>individual piano makers (persons) for their instruments
instead of known <BR>name
manufacturers.<BR><BR>Cheers<BR>RicB<BR><BR><BR> Ric<BR>
In my practice when someone orders a An RC board
the ones I<BR> make will<BR> transfer much of the
load bearing capacity to the ribbing. Be<BR> aware
that in<BR> my RC boards the ribs are made taller
& of stiffer materials with<BR> tight radii<BR>
The compression componenet will vary between 5 to 5.5% mc at
time<BR> of pressing<BR> depending on what type of
climate the piano is going to. <BR>
Nevada/Arizona<BR> etc. gets the lower MC & the bay
area gets 6% or higher. In either<BR> case, because<BR>
of prevailing MC in the mentioned climate, the panel
compression<BR> will end up<BR> being roughly
similar at there final destinations. Customization is<BR>
great.<BR> If I had to ascribe a percentage of crown
support from this type of<BR> board I'd<BR> just
be guessing at 20 to 30% as opposed to a purelly C.C. design.<BR>
All boards must benefit from the interface..hey it's a
form of<BR> plywood.<BR> Beyond that it's many
variable dynamic stresses in the panel that<BR> make
it<BR> work....or not.<BR> Dale<BR><BR>
A RC board can be said to have curved ribs... but
beyond that<BR> it can<BR>
either rely largely on panel compression and the stress<BR>
interface this<BR>
creates with the ribs, or it can be a pure RC and S board.
All<BR> depends<BR>
on how much compression the whole assembly process ends up<BR>
putting into<BR> the
board.<BR><BR> Cheers<BR>
RicB</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>