<!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>In a message dated 1/23/2005 2:22:45 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, sec@overspianos.com.au writes:</DIV> <DIV> <FONT size=3> Hi Ron</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>  Fine post.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>  I too have given this thought over many years &am= p; so often it's the pianos with a massive overbuilt plate(rims) that speaks to me= . </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>   <U>"I believe</U>" part of this has to do w= ith the fact that a heavy dead plate is not likely to have any unwanted resonances or absorp acoustical energy . I've made a habit of tapping/thumpi= ng on plates, especially the struts. If they go thunk & the sound dies instantly, this is a good thing ,if they they resonate or worse,si= ng then  they're vibrating at varying frequencies & sucking vibrational energy out of the sytem & detracting audibly from the music It doesn't take much common sense to figure this out. Use your knuckle & just tap all over the plate. It's educational</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>  I've heard some struts from vacuum processed plat= e that ring for 2 or more second & in sympathy with certain frequencies.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>  Cheers</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>  Dale</FONT></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>I didn't mean to offend you, and sorry if I have. <BR>But surely we have to be able= to offer an opinion <BR>on the merits of various design factors based on <BR>experience. The two pianos, in my experience, <BR>which initially caus= ed me to believe that plate <BR>weight was important, were the Baldwin SD-10 = and <BR>the Welmar 6'0 grand. Both have quite massive <BR>plate thickness out behind the hitch plate (much <BR>thicker than the plate we use for our 225= ). The <BR>SD-10 from memory is well over 16 mm thick, and <BR>the Welmar is = over 20 mm thick at the web between <BR>the treble and bass bridges. While the original <BR>workmanship of both pianos seemed to be somewhat <BR>wanting,= both had outstanding sustain and the <BR>plates seemed to be the facilitat= ing stand-out <BR>parameter.<BR><BR>I thought my earlier post was quite innocu= ous. I <BR>didn't expect someone to jump up and down about <BR>it.<BR><BR>Ah we= ll, another day at the office.<BR><BR>Ron O.<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>