[pianotech] Soundboard Analysis

[Encore Pianos]

Hi Ron:

I don't think it assumes a more perfect world.  It has its limitations, as I
am aware and which you and others point out.  And yes, a string or longer
straight edge will give you the visuals of which you speak.  So no, the
Crownulator is not the Holy Grail.  

It's not an arbitrary point.  I try to measure from the same point under the
center of the treble bridge wherever possible.  That is very useful when one
is measuring  a new board unloaded, loaded to set bearing, and loaded after
stringing.  

Nothing prevents one from combining the Crownulator readings with string
visualizations, as one sees the need to fully flesh out the picture.

Will

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 11:52 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Soundboard Analysis

On 6/22/2011 7:17 PM, Encore Pianos wrote:

> About a year ago, I bought a Crownulator from Jude Reveley.

It's a fine idea in concept, but presumes a more perfect world than I work
in. As in so many other aspects of this work, the number of decimal points
generated is over appreciated and usually at the expense of a broader
picture. A string, rim to rim, shows me the contour of the crown, rather
than the calculated radius at an arbitrary point. One look with the string
will tell me as much or more than three or four Crownulator measurements.
"Flat" boards are hardly ever dead flat, which a string shows immediately,
as it shows an "S" curve, without multiple measurements and calculations.

I can then compare these with the string bearing measurements above each
crown "measurement" for a workable picture of how the soundboard is doing
structurally.

Ron N