I ran into a beautiful Bechstein, 7' grand one time many years ago. It had been "rebuilt" in Europe by a "highly recommended" rebuilder. The finish was exquisite, the action work was acceptable, the stringing was acceptable, the tone/sound was lousy! It took me a while to figure it out. While I was crawling around under the piano, I noticed gobs of "finish" around the nose bolt holes. Upon careful examination I discovered that the "rebuilder" had finished the board with a Polyester Finish!!! It looked beautiful, but that board was as dead as any board I have ever seen, before or since. Another aspect, that I find in my preferences, is that the sound of pianos with lacquered boards, really offends my ear; whereas those with a Varnish finish pleases my ear. Now, having said that, that is my personal preference. The sound appears "thin" to me, in the lacquered boards. As I am talking about new as well as rebuilt pianos, I have to attribute all that to the finish used. There have been many articles written about the "Varnishes" of the great Violin makers, etc. It is my belief that the varnish does have a great deal to do with the tone the wood produces. For one thing, varnish soaks into the wood, (this is the reason I use the very best natural esters type varnish that I can find. I believe these esters, (or whatever you want to call them), are natural to wood and I believe that filling the pores with them, enhances the board's ability to produce a more mellow, (my preference), tone. For those who like the brittle sound of modern "cookie cutter" pianos, forget the varnish and use lacquer. Just MHO. I could go on for several paragraphs about this, but I'm sure there are those who are glad that I don't. <G> Regards, Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon) V
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