In a piano worth $100,000's is this a good practice ?

[antares]

> Hi Antares,

Hi Tony,
> 
> We were all talking about the 'killer octave' on the list a few weeks ago
> Steinways of course was the major piano concerned.

of course yes...
 
> All the methods of regulating, hammer realigning & changing etc came up as
> the method of fixing the problem. And of course changing the soundboard.
> 
> Del is of the opinion that the soundboard looses its stiffness in certain
> areas and that that is the actual problem that has to be overcome.
> 
> We talked about loading the offending section with springs as being a
> successful solution to this problem and many concur that this is one way to
> go.


Yeah, I now remember the conversation... I read it.
> 
> Me, I am waiting to get permission to try out these experiments on a
> Steinway D. I want to record the entire process starting with the partial's
> magnitude of all notes in the area before any work is done to see if I can
> located by some other method what I can hear, isolate the problem then
> record the differences as springs are added etc.

That is very interesting, because the problem is a real pain in the neck.
I just had a long walk (My wife is off to the US, she is American you know)
through a very quiet park, and I had deep thoughts about what a waste it is
indeed to sort of throw away the most expensive concert piano in the world
and just replace it with the next one. So it would be great if somebody
tried to find a solution for this.
> 
> The original possible cause of this problem can I believe be tied into your
> saying 'new is better'. The compression on the original boards deteriorates
> the board faster in the treble than the mid or bass section because of the
> shorter  width of the board in that area.

Today I happened to visit the website of Ron Overs :

http://www.overspianos.com.au

I must say that I am rather impressed with his knowledge.
If you're interested, go to 'Technical Stuff' and scroll down till you come
to
'Overs' APTTA 1998 convention lecture'

He really tells very much about the 'killer octave' and his experiments  for
improvements.
I wonder what you guys think about it? (at least I am in awe...)


> 
> As you say the bass and mid sections are good but the upper treble sucks.

Like a huge duck!  (:<(        -------->      (;>))
  
> Seem to me that the board is over compressed to begin with and though this
> may give a fantastic tone to begin with, it will deteriorate very rapidly
> with time.  In a piano worth $100,000's is this a good practice ?

It is a shame, and the fact that they are so arrogant, in general, makes it
even worse. But we have no choice, tradition is hard to erase.
Why though, does Yamaha not have this problem? at least not as bad?
And do you know of other older Concert grands that have stayed better? and
are there more Australian piano builders besides Ron Overs?

btw....What's da weather like in your place?

Antares,

Amsterdam, Holland

'Where music is, no harm can be'