On Tue, 4 Dec 2001 20:07:46 Delwin D Fandrich wrote: > >But this does bring up another subject. Why are we so picky about the >perceived 'quality' of our soundboard wood. The soundboard is simply a >(more-or-less) two-dimensional, wave-carrying medium. Oh, Del, now you've done it. I can hear JD now saying "I thought you said that waves didn't travel in the soundboard". >Some years ago I examined a piano soundboard made up of shorts end-glued >together. The end-glue joints were made something like a lying down Z. After >nearly 100 years the joints were still sound and the board worked just fine. >I'm going to do this one day soon--just to prove a point. Interesting. > >The problem here is that as we continue to demand only the super-premium >wood for our soundboards we ensure a tremendous amount of waste. And we insist on these super-premium woods even for the most low end pianos, so that the salesman can use it as a marketing tool. This is a crime. If (and from what you're saying that's a big if) it makes a difference then the super-premium wood should go in a super-premium piano. > And, quite >frankly, we don't have that many trees to waste them just to please our >aesthetic taste and to fit a bunch of rules that no longer apply. If they >ever did. Agreed. Last night a friend showed me the new flooring that she is planning to use for her remodeled condo. Bamboo. As I was looking at it I thought, this would make a good piano rim, especially for many less than premium makes that I could name, from certain continents that I could name. The stuff is essentially a grass and grows to harvest size in something like 5 years. Use of materials like this might stop the wholesale cutting of North American forests. This is just an example, and maybe not a workable one. But, if we don't start exploring some options like this it may not be long before there are no super-premium materials even for the super-premium instruments that might benefit from them. For example, take a good, close look at the wood used in some of >the late 19th century and early 20th century pianos. We would reject it out >of hand as not being 'good' enough. > >Ok, end of rant. > >Del > > One of my favorite pianos is a BB Mason-Hamlin that belongs to a friend. If you look at the frame braces each one is cut from pine or spruce that would end up on the fire nowadays. No tight grain, obvious knots, non-uniform color, etc. But what a piano. Perhaps it's time to let common sense and our ears dictate what materials go into making a good piano and not what the marketing department says makes a good piano. Phil --- Phillip Ford Piano Service & Restoration 1777 Yosemite Ave - 215 San Francisco, CA 94124
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