... and if you buy the one called a Tilt Box you'll be supporting the inventor of the product himself right here in these United States! Greg Newell Greg's Piano Forté www.gregspianoforte.com 216-226-3791 (office) 216-470-8634 (mobile) -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ron Nossaman Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 2:41 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] 1880s Steinway Grand - viable project or no? Terry Farrell wrote: > John - Regarding the soundboard & oil-canning, etc. - it's not a > pitfall if you simply plan on replacing the soundboard! Many (most - > hopefully!) of us would not even consider rebuilding a piano like that > without planning on soundboard replacement - and redesign, preferably. Unfortunately, from what I've seen, most aren't replacing soundboards. First, the absence or low number of cracks is considered. If crown is checked at all, it's on the long rib where it doesn't indicate anything useful. Soundboard replacement is almost always approached from a profit standpoint. it costs too much to do, and will raise the price above what the market will bear, or reduce raw profit, or both. It's the second most important part of the instrument (rim first), but is most often considered to be a luxury option at the tail end of the list. The economic reality, unfortunately, takes precedent over the structural and tonal. We all have that to deal with. Oh, and if the strings are holding the soundboard up, there will be negative bearing. The Wixey inclinometer costs about $40, measures to 0.1°, and has a magnetic base you can attach a home made foot to for accurately measuring downbearing angles. One of the better deals in the profession. Ron N
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