<HTML> In a message dated 10/17/03 9:40:50 AM, Erwinspiano@aol.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE CITE STYLE="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px" TYPE="CITE"> Michael The tone bell & pulsator I asked John about = are not the same thing. The pulsator is merely a thin= strip of maple about 25 mm wide by 7 mm thick by 6 cm long. Depending on th= e year this feature intersects 3 to 5 ribs. Looking under the piano at the= board of a S&S B & C you'll see it in the bass corner. It runs 90= Degrees to the ribs and is glued/dowelled to the ribs. The ribs are also th= inned out & seem to terminate somewhat at this point even thought he t= hinned out flatter portions extend to & are glued into notches in the ra= sten/inner rim. As John said it appears to be an idea that functions like = a cutoff bar but I'm thinking it may have an effect hard to quantify. Surely= they had a reason. The bell is just a plate stiffening device. A short beam fro= m the belly rail to the case in the same area would allow for another nose b= olt that could take the place of the bell. I cant say the bell has any effec= t in and of itself to influence tone but does stiffen the plate web where it= attaches thereby influencing tone. There must be a modest down force of t= he bell bolt to do so which by the way will increase the downbearing a small= amount (tone effect) These bolts also seem to come loose from time to tim= e and cause a weird rattle. Does that help?--Dale </BLOCKQUOTE> This reference to the "bell" brings to mind a question I have long had. S&am= p;S piano plates are sometimes billed as cupola plates. Does this refer to t= he shape of the stress holes in the plate, or to Steinway's use of a shop cu= pola furnace to produce sufficient amounts of molten iron for the larger pla= te ?</HTML>