Hi Wim Ric First, how is the sound, compared to the old Sohmers with agraffs on the bridge? Second, do you know what the composite material is made of? Looking forward to seeing and hearing the piano in GR Wim I never had the opportunity to hear a Sohmer so I have no way of making the comparison. They do have a very pleasant sound tho and with that extra long sustain especially noticeable in the higher treble that we have heard in other designs. The one I saw was able to handle quite powerful play and had a sound that reminded me of both the Nossaman instrument and Overs instrument I saw in Rochester. The soundboard, if the design hasn't changed since then, was a three ply panel in which the middle <<ply>> was carbon fiber and the outside two were usual high quality soundboard spruce. We got to see a slice of the material and of course there were a lot of oohs and ahhs... but skepticism underneath it all. I have to tip my hat to Udo Steingræber big time for daring to take on this project in the heartland of German piano building country. We are of course talking about a rib crowned and supported affair. He is very aware of Wayne Stuarts work but did not seem to know much about what was going on in America at the time. I did not get a chance to find out what he used to glue the three plys together so you all can ask him. He did not put crown into the panel as a part of gluing the plys together tho he found that idea interesting. He was convinced his agraffe design was quite a bit superior to anything else out there, largely because of how it deals with the stress the string / agraffe combination imparts onto the bridge. He has some graphics to show how that works. I suppose you all know that its an English engineer, Richard Dain who the designer. Evidently he has been working on this for quite some time. He's a bit eccentric and naturally enough very proud of his work... with every right to be so I might add. A very nice fellow really and quite eager to discuss his design thinking so I am sure his kindred spirits in the US will have the opportunity to do one of the things they like best... talk piano design. He owns a rather large estate in England with a small concert hall, studio and has a few very good instruments, and does a lot of music things out their. A quite rich older fellow with a passion for pianos he is living out in his retirement days. Really quite cool. You can find Richard Dains website at http://www.hurstwoodfarmpianos.co.uk/index.php . It comes complete with several sound samples of different instruments, and a lot of information about his concert hall / estate and endeavours. In anycase... I'm sure you will find the instrument both enjoyable and interesting. And... Steingræber does very very fine work. So the execution is excellent quality. Over's immaculate instrument at Rochester was immediately brought to my mind. Cheers RicB
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