The Mother of all Bellyrails

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Nossaman" <RNossaman@cox.net>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: February 08, 2003 9:55 PM
Subject: Re: The Mother of all Bellyrails


>
> >Well, let's not jump to conclusions just yet. All of the strings on the
> >transition bridge were plain steel, not wrapped. Though they may well
have
> >been originally. The piano had been restrung and 'rescaled' some time
> >back. I've not yet run the scaling through to see what was there....
>
> I'd hazard a guess that wrapped bichords will be going back on a bridge
> somewhere near there though, and on the new bass bridge too.

Yes, it will be getting bi-chords, both there and through the bass section.
I've never met a tri-chord wrapped unison that I liked....


>
> >Yes, we'll be resomething, anyway. Haven't decided just yet what approach
> >to take. I'm not sure I want to float the board as per the original. Nor
> >am I sure I want to put all that extraneous iron back in there.
>
> I can appreciate the reservations about the soundboard float, but all that
> iron acreage is sort of unique, albeit heavy. I sure don't remember ever
> seeing a damper guide rail bolted to a plate before, and I'd hate to give
> up something that strange. It might also be a good opportunity to screw
> that sucker to the belly rail for a killer octave sustain you can time
with
> a sun dial.

I'll have to wait until I talk with the owner of the piano before deciding
just what to do. I expect, however, that we'll be making a new soundboard
liner and building up the bellyrail. Yes, I'm interested in finding out how
much difference a half-ton bellyrail can make....


>
> Or are you not being paid by the pound?

Sadly, no.


>
> >And there is more to that bass bridge than meets the eye. At first glance
> >there appears to be a substantial cantilever--
>
> I couldn't tell, but I was wondering why the bridge went in a different
> direction with each change from mono-, to bi-, to tri-chords.

I'll wait until I've run the scale numbers, but it's possible Mr Chickering
suspected something about inharmonicity.


>
> Nice case shape though.

Yes, it is, isn't it. Also, quite narrow, especially so since it has only 85
notes.


>
> > From the looks of them I'm quite sure these buttons, screws and spacers
> > were fit at the factory as the piano was being built. I'm speculating
> > that during production they discovered that bass bridge cantilevers
> > didn't work all that well but it was too late to take it out. So they
> > simply rendered it ineffective by putting in the spacers, buttons and
screws.
>
> I love these little indications where the design vision didn't quite mesh
> with production reality. Makes me wish I could go back to that day for a
> few hours  and watch quietly from the corner. I'd be quiet - honest.

Until now, Ron, I thought you were an honest man.... But, I surely do agree
with the sentiment. I'd like to have been able to hang around there a bit
myself.

Del