<!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 6.00.2900.2523" 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=rol= e_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>  It is my personal opinion that most uprights are not dependent o= n crown for tone production.</DIV> <DIV> Yes some sound better than others & some have a variety of ri= b configuration. I believe it's primarily a mass driven system. The upright bo= ard is tapered like a wedge . Thiicker at the top or treble a much thinner towar= d the bottom & most have 11 or 12 ribs which adds mass & stiffness as well. The best sounding ones though have real rib structure & at least s= ome bearing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>  My sister has an Ivers & pond Upright & though it sound quite good it has a weakness in the treble area which is a lack probably a l= ack of mass. With ribs that shallow it could not have ever had much if any crown.</DIV> <DIV>  JMho</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>Interesting. This may be superfluous, but I would like<BR>to ment= ion that some of the best-sounding old upright<BR>pianos I have seen have very= wide, shallow ribs. And<BR>no cracks in the still very "live" boards. Knabe.<BR>Ivers and Pond. Mason.<BR>     Not intending to m= uddy things here. I believe in<BR>and support the idea of rib-crowning. But how= did<BR>these allegedly CC boards survive in Georgia for 100<BR>years so we= ll? Lots of varnish?<BR>     Thump</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>