This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Brian, No. That was a design by Harold Conklin. And it does have some unique = design features. It does have a fairly long stinging scale for an upright and it uses a = somewhat odd hammer strike point ratio (SPR). The more-or-less standard = practice with "modern" pianos is to start at C-88 with a SPR of about = 1/12 to 1/16 of the speaking length and taper down to about 1/8 = somewhere near the center of the scale. It then stays pretty much the = same down through the bass. The SPR in this piano extends down to 1/5 = of the speaking length at A-1. And this does, indeed, give the piano = quite an unusual sound. It is also very much one of those "love-it" or = "hate-it" sort of things. Those who like it, seem to really like it. = Those who don't want nothing to do with the piano. The brass weight is an impedance adjustment device. It mass-loads the = bottom of the tenor bridge to help slow down the rapid loss of energy to = the soundboard that is typical at that point. The tenor bridge is much = more flexible at its extreme end than it is an octave or two up -- it is = a "bridge., after all. That means that the mechanical impedance load = felt by the strings is quite a bit lower at the end than it is further = up the scale. There is typically a significant loss of sustain at the = very end of the bridge compared to that a bit further up the scale. = Some of the old piano designers attempted to deal with this by dumping = tension through the expedient of curving the bridge in the common hockey = stick shape. A poor solution, at best. The weight is a somewhat better = notion in that it allows the string tensions to be kept reasonably = constant all the way to the bottom of the tenor bridge, thus keeping the = tone quality somewhat more uniform across the break. Baldwin calls it a = "Tone-Extender." Mr Conklin was actually able to get a patent on the = device, though I surely don't know how. Similar ideas have been used on = pianos dating back at least to the late 1800's. That's called prior art = and it should have precluded the issuance of the patent, but it didn't. = It would be a pretty tough one to defend, however. -- ddf -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Brian Trout=20 To: pianotech@ptg.org=20 Sent: Thursday, December 02, 1999 6:08 PM Subject: Baldwin 6000 full size upright Hi list, I tuned a full size Baldwin upright (about 1 1/2 years old) on my last = stop today. It was an interesting piano. The tuning pins were a little = tighter than I would have liked to have had to deal with, but it tuned = quite nicely. No problems at the breaks. No major false string = problems, not even in the high treble. The main thing that I noticed = was that it had a BIG sound. (It's also a very heavy piano. There are = a lot of small grands that don't weigh as much... but that's another = story.) =20 Does anyone have any input on that big brass weight through the = soundboard down at the bass bridge? The bass has a big, rather throaty = sound, almost resembling an electronic sound. I've heard a few = rumblings from time to time about the concept of loading the soundboard = in the area of the bass bridge, perhaps to change impedance?. But I was = hoping that perhaps someone might have a more reasoned idea of the = science behind this thing. (Were you involved in designing this thing, = Del? If so, I'd be interested in any comments you'd like to share.) I know I often am critical of some of the best pianos, but I kind of = like this one. I know there will likely be a number of people who would = not like it, and that's ok. If anyone has a comment, feel free. Best wishes to all, Brian Trout Quarryville, PA btrout@desupernet.net ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/f9/40/4f/90/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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