Stephen Birkett wrote: > Why are 180 year old unvarnished soundbaords still in perfect > condition while thickly varnished contemporary soundboards have an > expected life of perhaps 20 years? Stephen & list,DISCLAIMER: I've never worked in the sound board department of a factory, so there are others on the list more qualified to answer than I. I have worked in a shop that re-manufactured existing boards and/or installed new boards, and I've never let my lack of qualification hinder my opinions anyway! I really must question the statement that infers that a 180 year old sound board might be in perfect condition. If you mean there are no cracks and it is still nice looking, I can accept that. Since there is no way to conduct an A-B test, there are no recordings of any performance of that instrument and there are no "golden eared" people around who remember how it sounded when new, how can anyone determine that it is anything like it was when new? In addition, the manufacturing process was dramatically different 180 years ago, the music wire was made of a different material and the sound board loading was greatly lower than today's high tension scales. I suggest that when one says that a modern sound board has a 20 year life, what they mean is, it only takes about 20 years before there is a perceptible aural difference between how it sounds now and how it sounded when new. Food for thought: This is an opinion! Danny Moore Houston Chapter
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