88 note pianos -Reply

[Keith McGavern]

>In the late '70s, I did some work with a rebuilder -- no longer in the
>business -- who experimented with loading the bridge in the fifth or sixth
>octave -- the place where sustain is so critical and often lacking.  The
>experiments were on rebuilt Steinways.  I helped him make audio recordings of
>the before and after.  He would melt key leads and fashion them into small
>cylinders, about 8 or 10 ozs. in weight, drill a hole through the middle for
>a long screw, and attach one on the underside of the soundboard into the
>bridge in the area where sustain was deficient.  The difference it made was
>astounding.  Sometimes the sustain was so good, the piano wouldn't shut up
>and the tone would become muddy.  Other times it was just right...
>
>Larry Fine

That's great information, Larry.

Back in June 1992 Nick Gravagne, RPT and I came up with a technical name
for a device I created to eliminate a dead note sound at the tenor/treble
break in a Wurlitzer Vertical Grand.

That device exerted pressure on one of the ribs via a backpost, thereby
enhancing that dead sounding note to blend in with the rest.  We christened
the device with the honorable title "Anti-Node Dynamic Soundboard Adjuster"
(ANDSA).

And Barney Ricca, Associate Member did a technical in Dallas showing how by
experimenting with adding weights to ribs at various locations can
influence nodes and sustain.  Barney also mentioned that Del Fandrich has
done some clever work to eliminate dead spots as well.

Keith McGavern, RPT
kam544@ionet.net
Oklahoma Baptist University
Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA