Piano Sound: was something else

[Farrell]

Comment interspersed below:

Is this a marketing ad or something? I thought all this was deemed horse-hockey a long time ago.

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "gordon stelter" <lclgcnp@yahoo.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 4:01 AM
Subject: Re: Piano Sound: was something else


>     Whatever vibrations the rim does not immediately
> reflect should be quickly carried around the board's
> perimeter and transferred back to it.

Reflected and carried around? Geez, the marketing picture would look like one of John Madden's football play analysis diagrams.

> For this reason,
> a very dense rim/case of very hard materials should be
> used, as it transmits vibrations the quickest.

Or does it simply immobilize the edge of the soundboard well, and let the soundboard do its thing?

>  And
> this is, I believe, one reason why old American pianos
> sound so gorgeous: the rims and cases were built of
> ash or maple, old growth with very close rings,
> properly seasoned and very hard. Particularly
> Victorian era pianos. 

When, exactly, was the "Victorian" era - or what defines it?

>      So a stiff rim helps the crown stay up 

Haven't we been through this also? Have you read the multitudes of past posts on this topic? They provide a fairly convincing argument against this line of thinking.

>and
> refects vibrations back to the board, and a dense rim
> carries intruding vibrations around the piano 

I've seen the marketing BS with the rim reflecting arrows of sound, but never arrows traveling around the piano. Where does this come from?

> and back
> into the board where they might do the most good. I
> have no compunction about neatly placing bolts/screws
> between framing members and case parts to facilitate
> this stiffness and transmittance, as metal transmits
> vibrations better than wood and will not resonate if
> embedded in it. Results bear this out.

What is your point here with bolts/screws? Where are you putting them? Why? What are the results?

>      Gordon Stelter
SNIP