Reverse Crown Soundboard

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Erwinpiano" <Erwinpiano@email.msn.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: June 29, 2001 7:02 AM
Subject: Fw: Reverse Crown Soundboard


>   Hi Terry
>
>    I have seen this quite a few times.  Julius Bauer, Becker bros. Emerson
> and others did use this design.  When you stumble on to this your first
> thought is that the board went south and then you realize that it's to
> intentional especially when you put a string across it and see a very
> deliberate curve  You know every one says it's a bad design but each one I
> have rebuilt has had incredible sustain and power. In fact the sustain is
> better than most conventional boards. In spite of the wood being in
> tension(positive bearing but reverse crown) only one board had a narrow 4
> inch crack that was easily shimmed.
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Are you sure about that Julius Bauer? I've seen a lot of strange and
wonderful things on a Bauer, but never reverse crown. With his duplex rib
system working away I've also never seen one with anything coming even close
to a flattened board. Another idea whose time has long since come...

Del