----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Nossaman" <RNossaman@KSCABLE.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: June 16, 2001 10:34 AM Subject: Re: Soundboard Evaluation > > > > > I am not quite sure why a compression board is said to be "damaged" (fiber > > compression damage) when in essence this damage is meaningless in as much > > as all one has to do is re-rib and reconfigure for a rib crowned assembly. > > > Yep, that's all. When that three year old compression crowned board is damaged > enough to present reverse crown in the killer octave and no longer adequately > functional for the tone production the owner thought she bought, all the tech > has to do is rebuild the piano. No sweat, that panel can be saved. The strings > merely have to be taken off, and the tuning pins removed to just pull the plate > enough to somehow just knock the soundboard out without damaging it too much > to re-use. Then all the tech has to do is repair the panel damage incurred by the > removal, remove the old ribs without doing further damage . . . . --------------------------------------- This is, of course, one of the biggest problems with this whole concept. While I haven't tried it yet, and probably never will--we prefer to make certain design changes that are impossible to make using the original panel--I can certainly visualize removing an original soundboard assembly that was fabricated and assembled using animal hide glue. In most older pianos that come to our shop these boards can be popped out without severe damage to the original assembly. We have also replaced soundboards in some relatively new pianos--five or ten years of age--and here you find another kettle of fish entirely. There is no way these boards are going to come out of the rim without severe damage. The fact that something is viable in theory doesn't necessarily make it viable in practice. Nor does it make it desirable. Del
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