<!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 6.00.6000.16587" 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>  Hey  RIc  --Greg</STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>   Been out of town & missed a lot of this. RIc you make a good case here with room for reasonableness.</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 again Greg...<BR> Certainly as a CC board an old panel which has been weakened <BR>due to compression set will be difficult to make work as a CC board.  At <BR>least more difficult then a new panel.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>  <STRONG>You bet</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>  The degree with which the panel <BR>has compression strength left is the determinant here.  Feasibly one <BR>could de-rib such a panel, dry it out and use it again in some kind of <BR>compression reliant assembly with success.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>  <STRONG><EM>But I probably wouldn't advise it or sell it with a warranty to a client. It would depend on the integrity of the panel & the desired outcome expected by the client & rebuilder. For some folks the wood is sacred & for others the wood is a crap shoot & a risk not worth taking.</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>Using it in an RC & S assembly on the other hand should be quite alright <BR>as Del stated some years back.  I believe there is some truth to what <BR>Thump posted about old wood... and as a result I would think such an <BR>assembly would sound a bit different then an assembly using a brand new <BR>board.  But perhaps any difference is marginal after all.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV> <STRONG><EM>    Using a panel such as this would be only wise if the panel was by in large Rib crowned & supported & dried to no more than say 6%</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><BR><BR>I am kind of skeptical to using phrases like "cellular destruction" <BR>myself...  not because there is anything inherently untruthfully about <BR>the phrase... <U>but because it conveys a sense of the wood being rendered <BR>totally useless as a soundboard... which clearly is not the case.</U></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV> <STRONG><EM>Some panels which have survived really well perhaps not but, When doing restorative work Udo was removing the badly damaged & cellularly destroyed wood & then machining  a new joint & then gluing the panel back together. Kind a like removing dry rot.  I'd do the same protocol if called upon</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  </EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Ric...  A split panel caused by compression ridging due to climate & bearing pressure <U>is what it is</U> because it has at least in some locations exceeded the elastic limit of the wood.  Now come on Ric. </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 also believe the whole compression set argumentation is well <BR>overstated. Not meaning to deny it is a significant factor in the life <BR>of a soundboard ... but I do find that there are very many old pianos <BR>that have very nice sound by any standards left in them.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>  <STRONG><EM>No question. But many more do not.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> <FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> Pure <BR>statistics leads me away from accepting compression reliant panels as <BR>having a built in self destruct mechanism. </FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><STRONG><EM>Well they due when dried to extreme</EM></STRONG><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Treat them well... give them <BR>a reasonably nice climate... and they will hold up nicely for a very <BR>long time indeed.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>  <STRONG><EM>No Argument here</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>I know there are many on piano tech that disagree. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2><STRONG><EM>  Yes & at the end of the day it's up to each one to make there best choice of methods based on what they know works, feel comfortable with or understand that theie design is pushing the tonal for good reason & thier clients are good with that.</EM></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> I also note that the <BR>vast majority of pianos made today rely on significant degrees of <BR>compression in there soundboards. <U>These companies, at least many of them <BR>I believe... are well aware of all the issues we discuss and their <BR>significance.</U></FONT></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Maybe not but thye make this their choice any way & the results are as we see in the field.  Some good , some great & some.........</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  <FONT size=4>I haven't read all these myriad of post but one essential element is being grossly over looked & that is the Rebuilders interest in designing  a sound board with a varity of tonal envelopes such a what was heard in Rochester.</FONT> </EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>    Cheers back at Ya</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><BR><BR>Cheers<BR>RicB</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Start the year off right. <A title="http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489" href="http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489" target="_blank">Easy ways to stay in shape</A> in the new year. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>