Hamburg Ribs

[ricb at pianostemmer.no]

Hi Folks...

Just thought I'd follow up on this bit about ribs in Steinway pianos.
In Hamburg the ribs are definitely machine crowned. Had one in my
hand on friday... no doubt about it.  They press the ribs and
soundboard into a curved caul upon glue up. MC is 5 % + for both the
panel and the ribs. Whether or not the  caul matches the radius on
the curved ribs or not the guide was unable to tell me. The ribs are
not pre-tapered at glue up and upon tapering the assembly takes on
quite a bit more crown. Perhaps this is indicative of the cauls
having a radius in excess of the ribs ?

In any case... I'm here for one more week of Academy training... just
spent the evening listening to Leif Ove Andsnes playing a concert at
the big concert hall tonite on an absolutely fabulous new Hamburg D.
Beautiful tone no doubt about it.

Cheers
RicB