soundboards improving with age? or what else?

[Richard Brekne]

antares wrote:

> Well Ricardo, then let me tell you that inside my very house I have a very
> very old Bechstein upright form I think 1892.
> It has been totally restored. The soundboard has new ribs, it has new
> strings, and the action has been taken apart and completely renewed.
> The sound is mellow and creamy.
> Now that's a sound you can't buy anymore.
> I just sold that instrument to real piano lovers, and for my wife, who is a
> composer and a pianist I will now make ready a nice old Steinway O.
>
> But indeed, I stick to my statement that newer instruments have a more
> lively and powerful tone.
> It's just that I can't afford to buy a new Steinway man!

Friend Antares... the outset of this thread said nothing about more powerful or
lively sound... though again "lively" is a vague term. And truthfully I have heard
on a number of occasions old pianos that for whatever reasons were as powerful in
sound as I can imagine any to be. So no.. I do not buy the near absolutism you
adhere to... but hey... grin.. that's ok... its not for either you or I to
necessarily be right or wrong.... we share our experiences and perhaps the world
will be just a little better for it... perhaps not... no big deal really.

All that having been said... I have far less "problems" with the "assumption" that
new sound boards in general sound more powerful then old ones then I do your
explanations as to why this is "true" (if it is indeed). There simply is no data to
support statements citing resin, elasticity or any of the other. In short no one
really knows this to be true... it is assumed to be so...perhaps for sound
"apparent reason" but none the less an assumption this remains. Until the physics
of the acoustic properties of wood under differing aging conditions is firmly
established in a factual manner then our opinions (and that's what they are) remain
speculative...at best educated guesses.

I stick by my position that it is simply unknown as yet much about the aging
process for wood acoustics... mainly because there is practically no studies done
on the matter... and I doubt none at all relating to piano sound boards. That many
instruments gain quality due to replacement of said panels can just as easily and
sensibly be explained in other ways then to simply site some presumed significance
of elasticity or presence of resins or what have you.

You and I are probably not going to agree on this issue here and now, and I still
maintain that we are probably talking past each other more then anything else...
though we most certainly disagree on some central points.

But as I said at the outset... show me the science, the research data that supports
your statements regarding why new wood is "better" then old. Until then its just as
much a matter of faith as any other position..... no matter how many pianos of
whatever quality you, I, or whoever has dealt with.

With the utmost of respect for an esteemed colleague.... grin.. and praise for a
most stimulating and enjoyable exchange of differing views.. I remain very freindly
yours...

Ric B.


>
>
> Friendly greetings
> from
>
> André Oorebeek
> Amsterdam, Holland
>
> 'where music is, no harm can be'

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no