Stwy B boards

[Phillip Ford]

>    Perhaps a point of interest.
>    I'm currently putting boards in 2 Stwy Bs. One is a 20's piano & the 
> other an 1895ish.  Any one who has looked at the bottom of the B has seen 
> no cut off bar but some amount of ribs that are whittled done 
> significantly in the bass corner with a flat maple stick running between 
> them. It has printed on it pulsator bar. patent 1878. No one has ever 
> been able to explain what the thing is for & in my mind promotes a 
> significant loss of stiffness.
>    I've always wondered what it was really for but in my mind it is 
> useless. for any reason I can see or hear.

Sacrilege.  CFT must be rolling over in his grave.  In Patent 204,110 CFT 
refers to it as a sustaining-bar.  'Pulsator bar' must have come from the 
marketing department.  According to CFT:

'The invention consists, first, in the combination, with a piano-forte 
sounding-board, of a sustaining-bar (one or more) arranged crosswise with 
relation to the ribs, and connected to the sounding-board, either above or 
below, at a distance from the bridge equal or nearly equal to the distance 
of the bridge from the opposite edge of the sounding-board, for the purpose 
of preventing the sounding-board from warping without disturbing its proper 
vibrations, and also forming a limit for the vibration; secondly, in the 
combination, with the sounding-board, of two coincident sustaining-bars, 
which are arranged crosswise to the ribs, and are fastened to said board, 
one above and the other below, at a distance from the bridge equal or 
nearly equal to the distance of the bridge from the opposite edge of the 
sounding-board the upper bar being metallic, and supported by cushions of 
wood, or other suitable material, for the purpose of preventing lateral 
movement of the ribs, and to increase the duration and strength of the sound.'

He goes on to say:

    'By the action of the sustaining-bar C the sounding-board is prevented 
from warping without disturbing the vibrations, and this effect is still 
further increased by the employment of the sustaining-bars C D, one above 
and the other below.  Furthermore, by the metallic sustaining-bar D, the 
duration and strength of the sound are materially increased.
   My invention enables me to increase the area of the sounding-board 
without incurring the danger that such sounding-board will bulge up or sag 
down.  I have found that by running the sustaining bar or bars out to the 
edges of the sounding-board the beneficial effect of the same is reduced.'

Which would seem to indicate that he felt that turning this into a full 
cutoff bar would not be as 'beneficial' as having a 'sustaining-bar'.

The illustration of the patent shows the metal bar above the board and a 
wooden bar below the ribs, although I have never actually seen a piano that 
looked like that.  The patent does not mention or illustrate cutting down 
the ribs in the corner.

Phil Ford

>  Oddly the older board had 14 ribs with the extra one in the treble end, 
> It had only 3 whittled down ribs & appeared to me from a design point of 
> view the stiffer idea. The 20's one had 5!! ribs whittled down with only 
> 13 ribs total. I suspect this board has been flat a really looonngg time.
>    The 1911 B & it's board I just sold & delivered was made without the 
> whittled down ribs. I ran the ribs full length to the bass corner with 
> the usual scallop. I have to say the sound was as good as any I've ever 
> heard & am convinced the extra crown support is far more important than 
> the devices purpose which is unknown & apparently unheard.
>   Cheers
>     Dale
>