Measuring soundboard thickness

[Farrell]

Good point. You are correct. It would certainly be a good research tool. 
(And hence, why I asked!)

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message ----- 
>
> As you say, such tools and measurements are of more
> interest to researchers and those who design the
> boards.
>
> Let's say you are interested in piano design and you
> come across a couple of Steinways, same model, built
> 50 years apart.  One sounds great, the other one
> doesn't.  They look similar enough.  The scale is the
> same.  Both have the same amount of crown, the ribs
> look similar, even the grain is similar looking.  One
> could simply say: "The wood is different, they don't
> make them out of that good old wood any more."
>
> On the other hand, what if the acoustic difference is
> due to soundboard profile changes (intended or not)?
> Maybe they have changed the thickness profile in the
> intervening years and that is the primary cause of the
> tonal difference.  You would not know this unless you
> measured.  One can save a lot of time by comparing
> things that others have already taken time to build.
>
> People have done a lot of work measuring the thickness
> profile of the plates on old Italian violins without
> any intention of replacing them.  Things can be
> learned by measuring and comparing.  When I saw the
> tool I described, the violin maker was trying to
> assess the potential tone quality of an old violin
> that had no bridge or strings on it.  To save himself
> the time of fitting a new bridge and stringing up the
> instrument, he did a quick check of the thickness
> profile and told the customer that the violin would
> probably have a rather bright sound.  I have no idea
> how accurate his statement was, but he may be able to
> draw such conclusions.
>
> Vladan

> Terry wrote:
> ...
> But that begs the question: why would anyone need to
> know the panel
> thickness? Seems to me that in some situations one may
> be curious of the
> original panel thickness if one were replacing the
> soundboard, but then one
> would have the luxury of measuring with the panel out
> and could use
> destructive techniques if need be. But what would you
> use that info for if
> you were not going to replace the soundboard?
>
> Terry Farrell