Sound-board modification

[Ron Nossaman]

> That little (5') baby grand with the now tamed board in it has another 
> issue.  The tenor is nice and big, even boomy at the end of the long 
> bridge.  Then you cross the break and there is a significant drop in 
> volume.  The volume then increases till we get to the bottom of the bass 
> bridge where it is powerful again.  The upper end of the bass bridge is 
> quite close to the rim.
> 
> This question is for the re-builders.  I'm thinking of an unobtrusive 
> design modification to the sound-board under the plate. ;-) I own this 
> one outright, so....    How risky is it to zip a cut in the sound-board 
> along the rim around the upper end of the bass bridge?  I'm guessing to 
> start short, like three inches and grow it a little as testing may 
> indicate.  Would it be preferable to tame the bottom end of the long 
> bridge?  Would a sort of "rib" glued up with ends glued and screwed to 
> the rim work like a cut-off to tame that end of the bridge and unify 
> things be better than loosening the sound-board?
> 
> With fingers itching and tools gleaming,
> Andrew Anderson

Just the addition of a hundred or so grams (experiment) of brass to 
the end of the low tenor might just tone it down enough to blend the 
break adequately without risking anything.

Ron N