Soundboard Evaluation

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Nossaman" <RNossaman@KSCABLE.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: June 15, 2001 8:45 AM
Subject: Re: Soundboard Evaluation


> >Well in all seriousness then I suppose you can then explain to me what he
did
> >say in the following quote below then...
>
> He said that (in context) replacing ribs on a compression crowned board
and
> making it into a rib crowned board with the same old panel would probably
> sound about (not exactly, but about) the same as if he had replaced the
> panel too. He didn't say it was "just as good", or that there was "no
> difference". His point was that in a rib crowned board, the panel is of
> significantly less importance to function than in a compression crowned
> board. At least that's what I got out of it.

Not forgetting what I should think would be self-evident: Soundboard panels
of the type under discussion, while once undoubtedly very nicely
compression-crowned, have not seen much, if any, compression for many years.
Therefore they can no longer be classified as being 'compression-crowned,'
since they no longer have either compression or crown. Nor is it be possible
for a panel of this type to ever again be compression-crowned--at least for
any appreciable period of time. There is far to much internal fiber damage,
it will never again support the kind of internal compression needed to form
the stress interface between the panel and the ribs to support crown.

For all practical purposes the rebuilder is now making a new soundboard and
rib assembly. He/she just happens to be using an old panel instead of gluing
up a new one out of new wood. If there is still enough structural integrity
left in the original panel to hold itself together I see no reason why this
won't work. And work just about as well as a panel made out of new wood. The
age of the wood is purely incidental. The only thing of any real consequence
would be the fiber compression that has taken place over the years. But, in
a rib-crowned soundboard assembly the structural characteristics of the
panel across-grain are of far less significance than they are in a
compression-crowned soundboard assembly.

Incidentally, I don't believe that pianos have 'souls.' They have
soundboards that--coupled with a number of other design and construction
details--give an instrument a certain sound. It's not religion, its not
voodoo and its not magic.

Regards,

Del