<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> I like Bobs response better...grin.. but that being said, I dunno... I just kinda thought most pianos get junked far earlier then even one soundboard replacement would take them. I dont think much of this has to do with their origional quality per se as it does to do with what the owner decides is to be done with them. Do the finest job you can... and if in 30 years the owner decides it looks more like wood for a midsummers campfire then a piano... thats what it will become. Just seems to me the odds against a piano getting its third soundboard (barring Bobs mistake correcting argument) are pretty slight. Besides....if you are going for a brand new board it doesnt matter how much destruction you cause the old one anyways. Thats Rons main point as I see it. Cheers RicB Farrell wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>> That being said..... just how many times is it likely that a rim will get a new > soundboard installed ?? If you are installing a new panel in an old instrument > ? Seems unlikely that this issue should ever come up again in the life of that > instrument... or what ? Why would the issue not pop up again in 50 to 100 years (or whatever the lifespan of a well-designed rib-crowned soundboard is - and considering environmental factors)? I guess part of the overall equation is are you applying band-aids to the piano? Or are you doing a proper rebuild/remanufacture where you are producing the rough equivalent of a new piano? Hopefully, sounding even better than new, and very hopefully better than most of what is available today, should it not be even more likely that it will be rebuilt again? <a href="https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives"></a> </blockquote> -- Richard Brekne RPT, N.P.T.F. UiB, Bergen, Norway <A HREF="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</A> <A HREF="http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html">http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html</A>  </html>