<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2719.2200" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#d8d0c8> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello Andrew.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Besides other interesting input, I am = happy to hear your comment.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I had the same decieving experience = with a wonderful Bechstein piano, which was just perfect (very nice musical = sound), but had some cracks in the sound board.  In those days, I = systematically shimmed the old boards, because (I thought) nobody would buy a piano = with cracks in the sound board, even if it sounds good.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So here we go again, shimming and restringing.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The result was truly the most horrible = piano I have ever heard.  Incredibly increased inharmonicity in all notes from = tenor to low trebble, no sustain, ugly colour.  Curiously, as always, bass = sounded acceptable.  I started voicing those old hammers, which were very = good before the restoration, as in your experience, but things went even = worse.  So I put a new set of hammers (in fact, I tried three different sets, = before finding one that was a little more acceptable than the others).  It = ended up as a very common piano, nothing to relate to the glorious instrument = it was before.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What happened ?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I checked of course for = downbearing.  In this case, before restoration the strings appeared to be just straight (no = angle) and yes there was a lack of power in the high trebble, but not really a = problem, as the singing capabilities were great.  After restoration, = downbearing was in normal values, but really no more singing.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am still servicing this piano, and = indeed, after one year, the sound begins to open up a little.  I long to hear = what it becomes in three or four years.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>While some other times the restorations = are a success, I admit that I now hesitate before shimming an old board, when = of course the piano is still sounding fine.  I am rather looking for a = method of shimming without taking off the strings and without lowering the = tension, to preserve the magic (ok Ric, let us call magic the things we = can feel but not explain) of the old instrument.  Any ideas out there = ?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stéphane Collin.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=ANRPiano@aol.com = href="mailto:ANRPiano@aol.com">ANRPiano@aol.com</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> Saturday, October 05, = 2002 5:26 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: how long until = good sound</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 = face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">I am having a related experience with a board I = just installed in a S&S B.  The action had been very well rebuilt = and voiced about a year ago.<BR><BR>I usually am replacing boards at the = same time I am rebuilding the action and installing new hammers.  It was = quite a shock to hear this set of hammers, which were very evenly voiced for = the old 100 year old board, on my new board!  My immediate gut reaction = was to wonder what on earth I had done wrong.  But as I began to voice = the hammers to this board, my world took on a much more balanced = view.<BR><BR>I would be interested in hearing of any similar experiences.<BR><BR><BR><BR>Andrew Remillard<BR>ANRPiano.com</FONT> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>