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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi David, and gang,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for the different suggestions =
as to how
to measure the crown. I've not measured crown on the top of =
the board
before, as you never know what has been the practice, regarding thinning =
of the
board, of the original factory. On this piano, with the maple =
stiffener on the bottom of the long bridge, my usual fishing line could =
not be
used. So, I clamped a straight edge, across the bottom of the =
piano,
and measured up to the board at the rim or cut off, and also on both =
sides of
the long bridge</FONT>. Move the straight edge a foot down the =
piano, and
measure again. Yes, I think the board has crown, on both =
sides of the
bridge, (I raised the pitch to A430), from the belly bar back until =
almost the
top of the base bridge. At that point, the crown remains =
1/16"positive on
the bent side, but drops to less then 1/16'negative on the straight =
(base
bridge) side.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There is no measurable positive =
downbearing on the
base bridge, and the base section wishes it could sound as good as a =
washtub,
mop handle configuration...it doesn't. The low tenor suffers from =
duck
quacking or puppy barking syndrome, I'm not sure which. The middle =
treble up to
88 is another story. Somewhat thin, but has respectable sustain, and =
lots of
false beats. How you measure downbearing on that long bridge would be a =
pearl of
wisdom...?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I really want to fix this instrument =
properly,
(have to convince the client), so I really welcome all comments and
suggestions. After reading Del's comment's about the tension on =
these
pianos, I've ordered Tremaine Parson's Pscale program, and dug out Jim =
Hayes
chapter in John Travis' book. I'll have to find the journal =
articles, that
I never bothered to read on string behaviour and scale design. I have =
always
thought that it was a little presumptuous, for myself, to attempt =
to
redesign, rather then rebuild pianos. I refer to what I have been =
doing as
conservative rebuilding, because my goal has been to put each piano back =
the way
it was, when it was new. Anyway, seems it's time for a more =
progressive
approach. I'm leaning towards a new board with a conventional cap. =
If this
is a mistake, please don't wait to tell me.....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>By the way, I think this piano would =
qualify as an
art case, some artist went and painted it white, I could send along a =
picture if
there is interest...sorry about the long post. Better get to
work.... Thanks in advance for your advice, and
suggestions.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Owen.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>---- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=skolnik@attglobal.net =
href="mailto:skolnik@attglobal.net">David
Skolnik</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, March 22, 2002 =
1:58
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Sohmer </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Owen -<BR>Have you had a chance to measure the =
downbearing and,
if so, how did you do it?<BR><BR>David Skolnik<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>At =
09:08 PM
03/05/2002 -0500, you wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><FONT face=arial =
size=2>Del,
Dale, Jim, Robert, Wim and everyone =
else...</FONT><BR> <BR><FONT
face=arial size=2>When the piano arives, the very first thing I =
am going to
do is measure the down bearing and see if I can determine just =
what
direction the board is crowned. I spoke to the owner of the =
piano
again today, I asked him if he found the serial number...Oh yes, =
says he,
it's easy to remember to..... A435.( Del.. What was that you said =
about
extremely high scale tensions...highest I've ever measured?.) =
Would
you want to lower the tension so the piano could comfortably be =
raised to
440? I think I'm in about as deep as I can stand for one
day.</FONT><BR><FONT face=arial size=2>By the way.. you guys are =
truly a
great resource. Thanks for your interest and support. I will keep =
all posted
on this one.</FONT><BR><FONT face=arial size=2>Thankyou,
Owen.</FONT><BR>----- Original Message -----
<DL>
<DD>From:</B> <A =
href="mailto:Erwinspiano@AOL.COM">Erwinspiano@AOL.COM</A>
<DD>To:</B> <A =
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>
<DD>Sent:</B> Tuesday, March 05, 2002 6:43 PM
<DD>Subject:</B> Re: Sohmer <BR><BR><FONT face=arial>
<DD>In a message dated 3/5/2002 9:27:35 AM Pacific Standard Time, =
<A
=
href="mailto:pianobuilders@olynet.com">pianobuilders@olynet.com</A>
writes:<BR><BR></FONT><FONT face=arial size=2>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">
<DD>Subj:Re: Sohmer </B>
<DD>Date:3/5/2002 9:27:35 AM Pacific Standard Time
<DD>From:<A
=
href="mailto:pianobuilders@olynet.com">pianobuilders@olynet.com</A>
<DD>Reply-to:<A =
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>
<DD>To:<A =
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>
<DD>Sent from the Internet </I><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">
<DD>----- Original Message -----
<DD>From:</B> <A
href="mailto:Erwinspiano@AOL.COM">Erwinspiano@AOL.COM</A>
<DD>To:</B> <A =
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>
<DD>Sent:</B> March 05, 2002 6:12 AM
<DD>Subject:</B> Re: Sohmer <BR><BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">
<DD>Has anybody had experience with a Sohmer piano with =
agraffes on
the long bridge? </FONT><FONT face=arial></FONT><FONT =
face=arial
size=2>
<DD>Thankyou,</FONT><FONT face=arial></FONT><FONT =
face=arial size=2>
<DD>Owen</FONT><FONT face=arial></DD></BLOCKQUOTE>
=
<DD> &nb=
sp;
Owen
<DD> Yes I have and they went all the way =
up. I
wrote of this before but this piano had agraffes all the way =
up and
the board was a reverse crown design. Freak design but awesome =
sound.
A difficult on to string></DD></BLOCKQUOTE>
=
<DD> &nb=
sp;
</FONT><FONT face=arial =
color=#000080>Hmmmm....</FONT><BR><BR><FONT
face=arial color=#000080>
<DD> Are you =
sure those
were reverse crown by design? Those I've done had positive =
crown. And
extremely high scale tensions -- highest I've ever measured. =
Around
62,000 lbs (28,000 kgf +) or better as I recall. Took some doing =
to
bring it down and retain the agraffe design (as per the =
customers
request).</FONT><BR><BR><FONT face=arial color=#000080>
<DD>Del</FONT>
<DD> Am I =
sure.
Hmmmmmmm</DD></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DD> You know my wife is the one who =
usually ask
that question and generally try to be sure and in this case it was =
too
intentional to be an accident. A string across the under side of =
the belly
in many places showed the ribbing to be very uniform and =
symetrical (o.k.
Quasi you know what I mean) You could have made salad nicely in it =
once
the strings were off. Also the bearing was still adequately =
positive and
also intentional looking and reasonable. Sustain as long as your =
life. I
don't know I liked it. It had what I call the magic soundboard =
syndrome.
Any things possible I guess but if it was an accident ,which I =
doubt, If
it ain't broke don't fix it.
=
<DD>>>>>>>>>>>>Dale>>>>>&=
gt;>>>>>
</DD></DL></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>