soundboards improving with age? or what else?

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: <EricFrankson@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: June 07, 2001 12:13 PM
Subject: Re: soundboards improving with age? or what else?



I'm not a Ron at all, but that's not going to stop me...

> If one looks at the spruce used in soundboards, the acoustic resonance is
> richer in those boards that have reached an ideal age.

Two things. Please repeat after me:
    First, "pianos are not violins and violins are not pianos."
The two instruments are totally different in their construction and
operation. There are no similarities at all in how their tone producing
mechanisms work.

    Second, piano soundboards should not resonate.
They do, of course, but it would be best if they did not. And, while I don't
know anything about violin design I rather suspect that violin soundboards
shouldn't resonate either.



> Every tree is
> different.  Every board is different.  I think that in piano's, by the
time
> the board has reached it's ideal age, it many times has already lost it's
> crown.

Age has nothing to do with the performance of a piano soundboard. At least
not age by itself. It's time under stress that we are concerned with. That
and how much stress the soundboard is subjected to during that time. In
other words, there is no 'ideal age' for a piano soundboard. It still boils
down to how much does it weigh (what is its mass) and how stiff is it? And
the stiffness of a piano soundboard changes with time under load.



> So on to the questions.  Violins have between 40 and 80 coats of varnish
that
> are hand-applied which in turn determines the ultimate resonance of the
wood.
> How many coats of varnish are used on a performance piano?

Very few, if any, production pianos still use varnish on their soundboards.
A couple of coats of lacquer and that's it. There would be little point in
varnishing a piano soundboard in this way. The piano soundboard finish adds
little to its mass and virtually nothing to its stiffness.



> Has a piano
> soundboard ever been produced that uses the traditional methods used to
> varnish violins (apply, rub-off, repeat)?

I doubt it. There would be no need. The finish is of little, if any,
consequence in terms of the performance of the piano soundboard. It protects
the wood from spills and dirt and that's about it.



> Does the idea that it's the
> combination of the wood and the varnish that ultimately determines the
> resonance of the soundboard (besides the fitting and installation) hold
any
> water?

No.



> I appreciate your interest and hope the violin analogy hasn't left me open
> for too many e-barbs!

Again, please repeat after me:
    "Pianos are not violins and violins are not pianos...."


Regards,

Del
Delwin D Fandrich
Piano Designer & Builder
Hoquiam, Washington  USA
E.mail:  pianobuilders@olynet.com
Web Site:  http://pianobuilders.olynet.com/