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<DIV>
<DIV> Ric</DIV>
<DIV> Well whatever the truth of the matter is & perhaps we
don't know all of it.</DIV>
<DIV> I rarely see Hamburg Steinways but the several newer ones =
I've
seen were knock outs tonally. The Os' I've seen are wonderful
sounding pianos. I heard something truly different than the NY
version.</DIV>
<DIV> Keep in mind that some crown in the rib is better than non=
e
& a spruce rib <STRONG>in my opinion,</STRONG> in the Hamburg Stwy  =
;a
better choice in wooden engineering materials than the softer sugar pine
ribs of purely CC boards. The tone tells a huge story. Maybe not a perf=
ect
design but headed in a better direction than some.</DIV>
<DIV> Thanks for the information </DIV>
<DIV> Dale</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>David<BR><BR><STRONG>As Ron reminded, and has others have stated =
many
times before Rib <BR>crowning are not mutually exclusive, and in this case=
obviously both are <BR>present. To what degree is another matter. They jus=
t
dont use the method <BR>of drying the panel to very low EMC's to get there=
,
opting instead for <BR>pressing in a caul with a greater curve then that f=
ound
on the ribs.</STRONG><BR><BR>In any case my opinion of their tone quality =
of
course remains <BR>unchanged, and I fail to see why it should be
affected. I simply <BR>reported to the list my observations for
everyones own edifications. I <BR>do this all the time, and most oft=
en
it seems manufacturers are drying <BR>out to very low EMC's to gain whatev=
er
compression levels they want. <BR>Seemed only fair to, in the same spirit =
of
curiousity and non-biased <BR>interest, report this experience as
well.<BR><BR>On a side, they confirmed what John Patton said to me a coupl=
e
years <BR>back, that in New York they dry to 5 - 5.5 % EMC before ribbing.=
<BR>Otherwise they follow similar
methods.<BR><BR>Cheers<BR>RicB</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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