[pianotech] David Love--Centeringthe bridge--was S&S something er other

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Right. Well, hammer knock is mostly created by energy being transferred to
the plate causing the plate to vibrate. There is also some noise from the
body of the hammer itself. This latter is actually present throughout the
scale but is generally not heard as an individual and discrete sound through
most of it because this sound is overwhelmed by the much louder sounds of
the notes being played. In the treble the sound power generated by the
strings and soundboard is somewhat reduced while the sounds of the vibrating
hammer body and plate are increasing.

 

The best we can do is to make that area of the soundboard scale as efficient
as possible and keep the hammers as light as possible. Which, of course,
means it is generally counter-productive to put heavier and harder hammers
on a piano with a killer octave problem an attempt to increase "power." The
heavier hammers generally have more felt-i.e., more "cushion"-which strikes
over a broader area muting out a lot of the energy in the string's upper
partials and produces a sound just the opposite of what we're after. Then
out comes the chemical hardeners which does reduce the cushioning effect of
all that felt but increases hammer knocking. 

 

ddf

 

Delwin D Fandrich

Piano Design & Fabrication

6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA

Phone  360.515.0119 - Cell  360.388.6525

 <mailto:del at fandrichpiano.com> del at fandrichpiano.com -
<mailto:ddfandrich at gmail.com> ddfandrich at gmail.com

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Gene Nelson
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 1:50 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] David Love--Centeringthe bridge--was S&S something
er other

 

Ok - hammer knock - the noise I hear if I mute the strings and listen to a
hammer blow.

 

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Delwin D Fandrich
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 1:39 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech]David Love--Centeringthe bridge--was S&S something
er other

 

Plate "ring?" Or hammer knock? I don't recall plate ringing being a problem.


 

Hammer knock is-among other things-a function of hammer mass and density. If
you design an acoustical system that is relatively more efficient you can
then use hammers that are relatively lighter and still get good performance.
The top twenty or twenty-five hammers in the Fandrich upright were 9 mm wide
and used relatively thin moldings and a less than normal amount of felt. I
don't recall just how heavy the tenor/treble hammers were just now but they
were the lightest hammers used on any production piano at the time. 

 

At the other end the bass hammers were 11 mm wide and the tenor hammers were
10 mm wide. This better blended the hammer mass curve through the
bass-to-tenor transition. 

 

ddf

 

Delwin D Fandrich

Piano Design & Fabrication

6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA

Phone  360.515.0119 - Cell  360.388.6525

del at fandrichpiano.com  <mailto:del at fandrichpiano.com> - ddfandrich at gmail.com

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Gene Nelson
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 1:25 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] David Love--Centeringthe bridge--was S&S something
er other

 

Did your treble design help eliminate or reduce or noticeably have any
effect on plate ring? Especially in the top 5 or so notes?

 

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]
<mailto:%5bmailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org%5d>  On Behalf Of Delwin D
Fandrich
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 1:14 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] David Love--Centeringthe bridge--was S&S something
er other

 

Well, that is what most of this conversation has been about. 

 

At the time I was designing the 122 Fandrich vertical piano it seemed
logical to me (and it still does) that it would be desirable to place the
driving energy source of the vibrating diaphragm-i.e., the bridge-relatively
close to the middle of the working part of the soundboard and its supporting
ribs. The energy wave starts there and moves away from both sides of the
bridge on across the soundboard to the mounting points and it seems a good
idea that both arrive at more-or-less the same time. Since this was a new
design and I could do anything I wanted I did so and was pleased with the
results. It's one of the best treble sections I've designed for any piano of
any type. This was, to my knowledge, one of very few pianos that have been
built with the treble section designed so the bridge could be placed
relatively close to the center of the ribs. At least I can't recall seeing
any others. The physical construction of the grand piano makes it impossible
and I don't know of any upright piano designs that attempted it though there
might well be some.

 

As may be, I got a combination of power and sustain out of this design that
was noticeably better than anything I'd done previously. And this with
relatively light and un-juiced hammers. 

 

ddf

 

Delwin D Fandrich

Piano Design & Fabrication

6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA

Phone  360.515.0119 - Cell  360.388.6525

del at fandrichpiano.com  <mailto:del at fandrichpiano.com> - ddfandrich at gmail.com

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]
<mailto:%5bmailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org%5d>  On Behalf Of Gene Nelson
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 9:37 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] David Love--Centering the bridge--was S&S something
er other

 

Yes indeed. Can you talk a bit about the treble bridge as well? Without your
redesign work the bridge would also be located near the end of a rib - not
so desirable up there.

  _____  

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