> These boards have conventional grain >orientation (abt. 45 degrees to side), but the ribs run roughly parallel to >the side - front to back! That makes for some long ribs! Should I duplicate >this, go to a conventional approach (ribs 90 degrees to grain, 45 degrees to >side), or? * Well, given the chance, I'd go for the "or?". You already know what the original sounds like, and since both pianos sound similar, it's probably a safe bet that it has something to do with the design. So you probably don't want to duplicate the original design, and reproduce that sound, right? That's just a guess. Option two is to go with a "conventional" approach, which is what? I'd recommend crowned ribs, rather than compression crowning, but how many? How high a crown? Placed where? Of what dimensions? At what angle(s)? That all depends on the final string scale, bridge configuration, rim construction and shape, and what kind of sound you want. It's a little more complicated than just putting together something that looks similar to the soundboard in another piano that sounds the way you'd like this one to sound. It's certainly possible to get lucky doing something like that, and the odds of actually improving the sound aren't all that bad in your favor, but the price gets pretty steep fairly quickly when you're prospecting soundboard design by trial and error and guess wrong. Also, it's awfully hard to determine what serendipitous choice made what difference in the overall sound without having established some cause and effect criteria. I'd recommend at least a more conventional configuration, or ideally, hire a custom design and installation. >Of course, the tenor plain wire trichords are VERY tubby, and I intend to >rescale. Ron, I am about to plug the numbers in "RESCALE", the software >scaling program you sent me, but am interested in if anyone has experience >rescaling this particular piano (apparently Weber made quite a few). > >Bill Shull >University of Redlands, La Sierra University * I haven't been rescaling as long as some of the other rebuilders on the List, and I haven't done a Weber yet. If you wouldn't mind, I'd sure like to get a look at the numbers on both the original scale, and what you come up with for improvements. Maybe I can help. Ron N
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