Rim Construction

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Don" <drose@dlcwest.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: October 31, 2000 6:29 AM
Subject: Re: Rim Construction


> Hi Terry,
>
> Not all Asian pianos use "select hardwood" for the rim.
>
> At 08:16 AM 10/31/00 -0500, you wrote:
> > restricting the view to the piano rim, what are piano rims
> >made of? I know Steinway are all hard maple laminations. I know most
Baldwin
> >grands are hard maple laminations (I guess they have experimented a bit
in
> >the past). I know Asian pianos are laminated soft hardwoods (select!).
>
> Regards,
> Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T.
---------------------------------------------------------

Sure they do.  So do all of the U.S. and European builders. But the
selection criteria is more sensitive to the acoustical needs of the piano on
some of them than it is on others.  In some cases the wood is selected for
its density and it strength.  In other cases it is selected for its low
density, its ease of bending and its exceptionally low cost.  In each
situation it is 'selected.'  The beauty of using a word such as  'select' in
this context is that it can legally mean anything the manufacturer wants it
to mean.  But no matter what the selection criteria actually is, the word is
going to sound good to the unsuspecting consumer.

May I recommend the book 'Doublespeak' (and its successor, 'The New
Doublespeak') by William Lutz, Harper-Collins, Publishers.

(We can forgive Don for not recognizing this...from the increasing barrage
of doublespeak flowing about in the U.S. these days, surely there cannot be
any left over for Canada.  Please, please...somebody tell me there is finite
supply of this stuff and we've just about run out!)

Regards,

Del