Wow. The bars in the photo are quite long. These would be much shorter had they been configured rectangular to the panel grain. I have seen this on some Amecian pianos such as early vintage Chickerings. Given the extra length of these bars a measurable rise-per-length for a given radius would be relatively high. What is your sense of this? And I never heard of a cutoff bar termed a deafening member; the cutoff bar in the photo does not seem at all radical in its limiting effect given what seems to be enormous real estate. The bars appear thin in width, any data handy as to their depths? Any other thoughts about the belly design in general?<br> <br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Mar 19, 2011 at 9:51 AM, John Delacour <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:JD@pianomaker.co.uk">JD@pianomaker.co.uk</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"> <div> <div><br></div> <div>As I have said, the piano that has this quality in the greatest degree was a Brinsmead 6'3" from about 1900. It is many years since I have seen this piano but last year I bought one that is identical. The hammers on this piano are far too soft and it will be impossible to judge it until I have re-strung it.</div> <div><br></div> <div>I also have a 5'5" Brinsmead of exactly the same vintage and general design.</div> <div><br></div> <div>And I also mentioned that this week I took delivery of a 9'1" Brinsmead concert grand from about 1870, and that, although this piano promises to be a truly amazing machine and is not in bad playing order, it does not exhibit 'swell' in any sensible degree. Here is a picture I took of the soundboard as it arrived.</div> <div><br></div> <div><br></div> <div align="center"><img src="cid:p0624080ac9aa8a2e6380@[192.168.1.66].1.0"></div> <div>Note well the curved deafening or cut-off. Now the boards on the 1900 pianos differ in several ways, most notably a) the bars are channeled and b) there is no deafened corner. I will take some pictures when I get a chance.</div> <div><br></div> <div>JD</div> <div><br></div> </div> </blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Nick Gravagne, RPT<br>AST Mechanical Engineering<br>