different soundboards

[Wimblees@aol.com]

In a message dated 97-01-23 19:19:39 EST, you write:

>Was anyone on the list in or around Kimball/Bosendorfer as the "Viennese"
>edition pianos were being developed?  They did some very interesting
>experiments with laminated boards.


I wasn't around, but I heard this story. Bosendorfer made two Imperial
grands, one with a solid spuce board and one with a laminated board. They
then asked several concert artists if they could tell which had which.
 According to the story,  there was a mixed review, and based on the outcome,
Bosendorfer claimed that the concert artists could not tell the difference
between the solid spruce board piano and the laminated board piano.


There are some piano technicians who claim they can hear the difference
between a solid spruce board and a laminated board. To be perfectly honest, I
cannot. What I have found, however, is that pianos with laminated boards
traditionally have other problems that make them sound "different". These
costs saving pianos also have poor hammers and suffer from bad scaling.


Willem Blees  RPT