<!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 6.00.6000.16414" 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><STRONG><EM>  Hi Bob</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  All god questions.  The answer is part economics & part Philosphy</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>This low tenor is a problem I am finding pretty<BR>consistently on B's.  I have four B's that I service<BR>and the tonal problem on the first 3 to 5 plain<BR>strings is worse the older the piano is.  The 1978 B<BR>is the oldest I tune and it is really bad.  </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>  <STRONG><EM>   Bob, you have discovered what many Belly heads /Tech's & Musicians have come to consider a huge engineering fault or weakness in the Stwy B and also in other 7 ft & shorter  pianos with this configuration.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  On your 1978 B may I suggest that the worse the board is the more voicing difficulty you will encounter.  Or & also even if the boards be agreeable the hammer care in this piano is critical to masking some of this inherent weakness.  BTW I will also state that many of my favorite S&S's pianos come from the CBS years & not from the magic 1920's. Yes the actions were dismal (teflon)but the belly men were doing a good job by in large & using nice tight grain Sitka spruce which holds up better under C.C. methods than Eastern or Engleman spruce.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>   Also In case you missed any of the strike line discussion recently the treble strike lines in B's can make even a good sounding board, be it original or replaced, sound weak & nasal. </EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Still we/I love the piano with all it's warts.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>How would you rate the severity of the problem on the<BR>1953 B? </DIV> <DIV>  <STRONG><EM>The problem is the same on all B's & this one no exception.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>  Also, on a board that is 53 years old don't<BR>you have some trepidation about how good of a job it<BR>will be doing in the next 10 - 20 years after all this<BR>work and expense?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>  <STRONG><EM>Excellent question. In this specific case I have zero trepidation. In others where I'm sensing some or if I have any, the board comes out.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>   My general philosophy is if ain't broke ......don't fix it.  But I'm not one to avoid the just fix it, in case you haven't noticed. </EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  There are no cracks in the board & little if any compression ridge damage in evidence. This piano came from a one owner family in the San Diego region, a very meditaranean climate.  It had no bearing but adequate but marginal crown. I did the action replacement first & the piano had a lovely dark singing voice prior to belly work. </EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  I purchased the piano for resale. If the piano needed a board it would have gotten one. That being said , the piano has received a new custom made pin block. I lowered the treble end 1 mm to pick up treble bearing & the plate dowels were just high enough so that when I cut them down the plate after being lowered made the bearing & the crown a very good match.  The improved sound, because of this procedure, has produced a wonderful sounding instrument that in my opinion can go 25 to 30 years down the road & still produce a stunning & excellent musical sound.  </EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  One thing to keep in mind about Steinways is, that in my opinion, & based on my experience, compared to the  crown of new rib crowned/supported boards, most Stwys have/had little crown to start with.  It's my opinion tonally the S&S's get by with fairly little crown as long there is some bearing. Many things work when it comes to boards & tonal output.  I don't have all the answers but I do know tonal vitality when I hear it.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  </EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> How do you weigh the possibility of<BR>it losing the ability to do its job in the future?  If<BR>it's done well for this long, perhaps it will continue<BR>for another 53.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <STRONG><EM> First, all boards will eventually lose there ability, however,</EM></STRONG> <STRONG><EM> I am confident of this piano's ability  to project & produce a very good sound for a long time.  It's not overloaded with bearing & the crown in the board is being utilized. Even though the board is pushed basically flat</EM></STRONG> <STRONG><EM>keep in mind many Stwys work well with original boards in this configuration. Also the Ca. climate is easy on the C.C. crowned soundboards.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  In cases like this any technician crawling under neath with a belly string trying to determine crown will state he didn't find any. But don't make the mistake of thinking the board isn't set up right especially when it has the voice of an Angel!</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  The pianos for sale if any one's interested</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Regards</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM> Dale</EM></STRONG><BR><BR>Bob Hull</FONT></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>