Floating soundboard

[Delwin D Fandrich]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment

  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: ANRPiano@AOL.COM=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: March 22, 2002 5:32 AM
  Subject: Floating soundboard


  List,

  I must have missed something a while back. =20

  What is a floating soundboard?

  It seems to mentioned frequently in reference to the bass.  I was =
hoping I could eventually figure out what was meant but the synapses =
aren't making the right connections.

The practice of cutting some section of the soundboard free of the inner =
rim. Usually the bass, but not always. In certain situations I've also =
done this along the treble side.=20

The idea is to free the edge of the soundboard close to the bridge and =
allow more mobility to the system. It allows the bridge/soundboard =
system to more closely track the motion of the string(s) at very low =
frequencies. The benefit, if done well, will be more energy at the =
fundamental frequency in the wave envelope. In other words, a cleaner =
more articulate sounding bass tone. The down side, if not done well, can =
be a considerably shortened sustain time, albeit a tone with a stronger =
bass at the fundamental frequencies while it's quickly dieing out.

Though it would be gratifying to claim this as a modern development the =
practice actually goes back at least to the early 1800s. A flat-strung =
Broadwood from the 1830s that we put a new board in a couple of years =
back had a version of this with a cut-away section on the straight bass =
side extending some distance away from the region in which the bass =
bridge terminated. It looked like a pretty well worked out feature and =
I'd guess the idea goes back some further than that.

I've been playing around with the practice ever since I discovered it in =
the Rippen pianos of the 1970s. The 122 cm vertical I designed and built =
in the early 90s had a version of this feature. As do most of the =
smaller (say, shorter than 200 to 210 cm grands) that we remanufacture.

With any luck I'll have a 175 cm grand remanufactured in time for my =
class--the all-day one--in Chicago this year. It will have this feature. =
Even without the piano the feature will be discussed along with one or =
two others.

Del



---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/8b/39/15/05/attachment.htm

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--