<!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 6.00.2900.2769" 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>A piano hitting the ground or other large, heavy object is reminiscent = of a motor vehicle accident.  The sound was not a good one, as I was directl= y, and unintentionally, involved in its creation.  It might have been interesting had I been a non-partial observer.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If a piano falls on the pavement and there's no one there to hear it, d= oes it really make a noise?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Dave Stahl</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 11/3/2005 1:57:29 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, bassooner42@yahoo.com writes:</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'd like to hear that on a CD.  I played in an "orchestra" a few times<BR>in SF/Oakland that destroyed a piano as its musical climax.   I hav= e a<BR>scar from that (playing glissandi with spray paint can).<BR>Rick<BR><BR><BR><BR>Quoted:<BR>What I learned from smashing up a Packard today.<BR>Piannaman@aol.com Piannaman@aol.com<BR>Thu, 3 Nov 2005 12:22:26 EST<BR><BR><BR>Gordon,<BR><BR>I thought I'd share my Packard experience.<BR><BR>Back in my piano moving days a couple of decades ago, I= was moving one<BR>of  <BR>these beasts.  It was quite heavy and rath= er unwieldy, to put it <BR>mildly.  I had <BR>no help that day, and it g= ot away from me on the lift gate  of the<BR>truck (in <BR>the up position).  It toppled 5 feet to the ground onto  it's back.&nbs= p; In<BR>a very <BR>shaky, quite adrenalized state, I got it upright and&nbsp= ; on the dolly<BR>again, and <BR>when it got to its destination, it played as though  nothing at all had<BR><BR>happened to it. Further examination= revealed that nothing  did!<BR><BR>They were strong, for sure.  Great playing pianos~<BR><BR>Dave Stahl<BR><BR>In a message dated 10/31/20= 05 7:48:38 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,  <BR>lclgcnp@yahoo.com writes:<BR><BR>Had to smash up a 1920's Packard upright, today,<BR>one of  the best-playing, best sounding pianos I've<BR>ever seen. I felt = bad about it,  but it was in the way<BR>and had terrible case and bridge damage due to  some<BR>moron parking it beneath a dripping/spraying air<BR>conditioner.   Still, the sound was magnificent.<BR>That = it did not die in  vain, I relate the<BR>following:<BR>It had a heavy pressure bar.  The plate was almost<BR>like steel. Members that would= have broken with a  claw<BR>hammer on most pianos took 10 whacks with= a  full<BR>sized sledge  before they split ( Ugh! ) The back posts<BR>and blocks were all of 5, 3/4"  plys of mahogany and<BR>rock= maple. The soundboard was 3/8" thick at the  <BR>upper edge, and 5/16= " thick at the lower edge, of<BR>wonderfully straight,  tight-grain spr= uce with about 40<BR>lines per inch. It had a  dozen ribs  that were= very<BR>stout: the largest being 1-1/4" wide and 7/8"  thick.<BR>Thes= e also appeared to be radially cut, so the belly<BR>was very  solid, wi= th both rib and compression<BR>crowning, as far as I could  tell.<BR>The= treble bridge had a vertically laminated  root<BR>and was doweled int= o the board every 4 inches.<BR>The  bass bridge was stright, on a small= shelf.<BR>They keys were  very short, to minimalize inertia.<BR>The p= iano was very wide and 52" tall, to  allow shorter<BR>action parts for bet= ter response, while maintaining<BR>board  size and string length.<BR>Considering the amount of water that  obviously had<BR>spr= ayed on to it, most pianos would have been<BR>completely  destroyed. But t= his one sounded and played<BR>wonderfully, to my amazement.  <BR>Peace,<BR>G<BR><BR>P.S. Oh yes! It also said  "Founded 1871",&nbs= p; so my guess<BR>is that the Packard family learned it's  stuff making<BR>pianos before it started making  automobiles.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>__________________________________________= _____<BR>pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>