Comparing piano belly to other instruments, was Re: The finite life of wood grain

[Mike Spalding]

Jude Reveley/Absolute Piano wrote:
> It is still another thing yet, to then draw any conclusion from a 
> comparison of a violin to a piano, the piano being strain bearing. 
> Just pluck a violin string. It makes a wonderful thunk we call 
> "pizzacato," and it is used with extraordinary and delightful effect 
> by all the masters; but it is the last type of sound I would want on 
> anything resembling a piano.
We hear the violin analogy with some regularity, probably because of the 
continuing fascination with the  "secret" of Stradivari's tone.  As one 
expert puts it, the secret is that there isn't a secret.  Anyway, as you 
point out, violins have too many differences from pianos to make a 
useful analogy.

I'm more interested in the similarities between pianos and guitars.  
Soundboard is a flat panel of spruce: check.  Spruce ribs/braces which 
impose a crown in the panel: check.  Steel strings, plain and wrapped, 
which impose a strain on the crowned panel: check.  Plucking yields a 
sustained tone:  check.  Failure modes include soundboard cracks and rib 
separation:  check.  I'm preparing a chapter technical comparing the 
design/construction/voicing of these two belly systems - is anyone aware 
of any existing work out there that I could refer to?

thanks

Mike