save our forests!

Ron Nossaman nossaman@SOUTHWIND.NET
Tue, 21 Apr 1998 07:59:30 -0500 (CDT)



> The wood on the bridge is much harder than a hammer shank.
>Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T.


Oh? If you are talking about cedar shanks, yes. Otherwise, the shank and
bridge cap are made out of very similar material ie - maple, birch, or Asian
mystery wood(s).

This brings up a question I've been meaning to ask. It seems to me that the
bridge caps in Kawai pianos are are somewhat softer than the hard maple I
would expect to find. Is this intentional? Why? Also, Yamaha bridge caps
change from a white wood to a distinctly yellow in the treble. This is very
obviously intentional, but again, why? Are they trying to tailor impedance
with different wood densities to customize the string energy transfer rate
to the bridge to enhance, or minimise, different partials at different
frequencies along the bridge? Or is their treble bridge cap wood just green??? 

Ron - RPT, PDQ, RSVP, NIMBY, FUBAR, SNAFU


 Ron Nossaman



This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC