Real Customizing of a piano

[Fenton Murray]

Thanks Dave,
What's probably more important to me than identifying, as I originally made 
point to, or agreeing whether there is or is not 'the Steinway sound', is 
identifying specific points within that (or any) piano's sound that are 
buried deep in the belly, and then learning how to manipulate and control 
and ultimately improve them. This is probably a much better direction for 
this thread. There is so much collective experience on this subject with in 
the list, I just love it when the tap opens up.
As you said " I think that if someone were to line up 30 Steinways from
their customer base and, not knowing that they were all Steinway, was asked
to identify the maker of each one, the odds of them saying Steinway 30 times
would be somewhere between slim and none--and Slim's on vacation as the
saying goes. "
Certainly true, I mean with hundreds of brands, Slim's on vacation. There's 
a red available in a little winery down south in San Miguel that's about 
$25. a bottle, a Barbera, I like to get a bottle when I'm down there, then 
we go to Morro Bay and have it on the beach with some BBQ. Gotta have that 
Barbera, now, if you slipped me a bottle of Thunderbird and put the other 
label on, I think I'd now. But, Steinway's are no way as consistent as this 
wine. Guess I made your point.
Fenton

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos at comcast.net>
To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 05, 2008 1:46 PM
Subject: RE: Real Customizing of a piano


> To get back to Fenton's original question I think the difficulty in 
> claiming
> that we can identify a "Steinway" sound is that we don't really have the
> double blind study with a variety of pianos in various states to 
> demonstrate
> whether we really can or can't.  I find Steinway pianos producing all 
> sorts
> of variety of tone depending for the most part on the condition of the 
> board
> and also the type and/or condition of the hammers.  I've pulled off hard
> pressed hammers for customers who claimed that it didn't produce a
> "Steinway" sound.  I've also encountered soundboard responses that defy 
> any
> maker's identity.  It's also true that customer's identification of and
> requests for the "Steinway" sound are as varied as the tone that the 
> pianos
> actually produce under various conditions.
>
> We may have a mental concept of what a Steinway sound is and shoot for 
> that
> accepting the best we can get depending on what the state of affairs is 
> with
> the piano in general.  I would presume that concept is taken from what we
> liked the best (which may vary from tech to tech) and so aim for that as
> some model.  Even then, the model we conceive of is fleeting and changes 
> as
> soon as we begin to recognize just what any particular piano might or 
> might
> not deliver.  I think that if someone were to line up 30 Steinways from
> their customer base and, not knowing that they were all Steinway, was 
> asked
> to identify the maker of each one, the odds of them saying Steinway 30 
> times
> would be somewhere between slim and none--and Slim's on vacation as the
> saying goes.  At least that's my hypothesis.  Now if someone wants to set 
> up
> a double blind study to test that hypothesis, I'll be happy to put in a 
> good
> word on the grant proposal.
>
> As Ron suggests, what's great in all this is the idea of better control 
> over
> outcomes (and nuances), targeting a very specific tonal model, and 
> choosing
> a consistent set of components to achieve that on a consistent basis.  For
> me, scale and soundboard design issues are really the most interesting 
> thing
> happening in piano technology right now with the greatest potential for
> redefining how we look at the instrument itself.
>
> David Love
> davidlovepianos at comcast.net
> www.davidlovepianos.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Ron Nossaman
> Sent: Saturday, July 05, 2008 12:19 PM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: Re: Real Customizing of a piano
>
>
>
>> Just wait until my 6'4" Knabe is done with a modified (Steinway like
> scale)
>> and a bunch of other changes.  A III or Knabe?  Only the decal knows for
>> sure.
>>
>> David Love
>
>
> There's a 5'8" or thereabouts Knabe player in my shop waiting
> for me to finish the school related projects and get back to
> it, that so far, with the old thoroughly worn out action, has
> a sound I think any new M would be proud of. This is just way
> cool stuff.
> Ron N
>
>
>
>