What is a Sound Board - How to Check Your Piano Sound Board
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ค. 2024
- livingpianos.com/how-to-buy-a-...
/ livingpianos
The heart and soul of your piano is its soundboard. Like the top of a Stradivarius violin, the soundboard is the wood beneath all the strings and plate of the piano which gives it its unique quality of sound. There are certain things you should know about soundboards:
Tight cracks usually present no problems.
Crown, the slight upward arching of the soundboard is essential for good tone.
The ribs beneath the soundboard must be firmly attached at all points to avoid buzzing.
Soundboards can be fixed, but only by removing the strings and plate and rebuilding the piano.
Watch the video to learn how to check the soundboard on your piano. - เพลง
Thanks, Robert! Very informative and useful as always!
Great, important information. You're explanatory and clear. You're not just talented, Robert - you're smart.
Very instructive video. Thanks!
Thankyou very much..great to learn all this before purchasing a piano
Fantastic description. Thanks!
Thank you, very interesting. Your advice is invaluable. 👍👍
Well explained...great!
Thanks for the video. Would like to hear your take reshaping hammers and voicing.
Great post thanks Robert
Thank you very much! I'm on my way to check out a piano this morning, and this is very valuable information!
Glad it was helpful!
Robert: You are great. Thank you so much.
+Carlos Rico . HE IS A COWBOY! OVER 60 YEARS IN THE PIANO BUSINESS
Awesome video!
Thank you so much for this fascinating video. You've shared so much knowledge in this forum. You're an amazing communicator and educator and a transporting musician. Bless you man. Much appreciated!
Wow, thank you!
Robert, I really appreciate all of your great videos. I'm going to look at an 18 year old Kawai RX-5 tomorrow and I'm taking notes! Unfortunately it's a 2.5 hour drive!
I love your videos. Wish you were nearby and could look at my piano. It has a few notes which sound, let me say, like some pianos I've heard in older jazz recordings and a couple of I call them ringers, where there's a slight treble quality to them when I mute the center string of said notes it seems to improve the tone somewhat. There's also a few in the really low register that sound like they have a loose copper winding. Some of these others I've mentioned are not even bass strings (with the extra winding). As per your video the sound board seems to check out, although I can't measure the crown just yet. Thanks, you are an invaluable resource.
Robert, another smart video. There's one thing, you didn't mention something about the magnifier. With the light and a magnifier, cracks and gaps could be located easier because the bottoms of the pianos are minimally dark. Without the light or light and the magnifier, gaps could be located with a business card or any other card and cracks could be located by sliding the fingers around.
Do you remember this comment??
Good information. However, I don't agree with the explanation of soundboard "crown". The soundboard gets "crowned" before it is inserted into the case. The rim does not support the crown by itself. Crown is created by drying the soundboard to a very low moisture content and gluing the ribs immediately to it. Rehydration of the soundboard causes the board to warp (crown) because the wood wants to expand, but one side is restricted because of the ribs being glued to it, thus forcing the soundboard into a curve. It is also possible to create the crown by cutting the ribs into a slight curve and clamping the soundboard to it, or with a combination of both methods.
The other information presented I agree with, especially in regards to cracks and related issues.
I don't understand; if the sounboard is supposed to warp after the ribs are being glued to it, wouldn't the "crowning" of the wood cause the soundboard to detach from the ribs?
@@j.vonhogen9650 The glue joint is critical because if it fails, then the soundboard won’t work very well. And they often buzz also if that happens. But it usually isn’t a problem unless the piano is very old. The proof is thete are many 100 year old pianos that sound just fine. The ribs stay tight for a long time, and you can measure the crown in the board.
@@j.vonhogen9650wondering the same, maybe the whole assembly is more restrictive on the bottom side so it crowns ever slightly up all together?.... i mean if everything is properly glued and sitting with pressure / didnt really get an answer lol
Robert, another thing I didn't mentioned, if the magnifier is needed, normally the lens diameter is 2-3.5". Although a magnifier with a smaller lens is fine but insufficient.
Very informative and clear video. Luckily there is now a solution for the 999 of 1000 pianos with flat soundboards. It is external recrowning. Only very few shops can perform this very elaborate procedure. In Europe there is Edwin Buenk, David Winston and the Rothe brothers, in the US only Craig Hair and Richard Blais of Hampshire Piano, who have a few scattered videos here on TH-cam.
But if there are only so few who can make recrowning, then 999 pianos would be too much and they would never get the time to do yours ;-)
I came to this video only to hear what he would say about Kaway plywood soundboards. I have money for a Kawai Upright BUT I am afraid that they will lose quality after some years.
Remember a crash helmet if you are not used to crawl under grands! :)
4:52: “Hey Moe! The piano soundboard has a crack in it!”
“Well then fix it birdbrain! Or your skull will have a crack in it!”
IF A SOUNDBOARD HAS GONE FLAT, BELIEVE ME YOU WILL KNOW IT !!!!!!!
HA HA OK SIR I HEARD YA
Please where can I find the Korg c55 computer (KLM 1565C)
U rock!!!
how old are you now lol
A bigger deal breaker are bridge cracks.
Larry you should realiset hat small cracks can grow bigger & bigger as the board no longer has complete ;protection from the atmosphere.
Ron
Thank you, graduating from Baldwin electronic that is acting funny. Looking for white baby grand moderately priced.
scared to go check my piano it's very old and has issues anyway.. but at least I will have an idea of how bad
I just had my baby grand(125 yrs old). but some of the bass notes
are not quite right Best I can explain is they have buzzing sound.not many but 4 or 5 of them
Europe is completely mistaken. What makes a piano a certain name brand is the SCALE and the case dimensions. Everything else about a piano is designed around those dimensions! The scale design and the case itself are the TWO major factors, not the soundboard alone.
Also, an accurate measure of downbearing. If there is SOME downbearing, there is always some crown.
I have seen quite a few pianos that have little or no downbearing yet still sound great. Go figure
I have a loose rib but no buzzing.
Where are you getting this information that in Europe if you replace the soundboard then you're not allowed to put the original name back on the piano? Somebody has given you the wrong information there my friend, I live in Europe and the rebuilding shops here are under no such restrictions.
Sounds like a Steinway & sons thing......😅😂
@@Li-yt7zh 😆 probably
Patently false about replacing soundboards in Europe. Just an excuse to use to sell old pianos with original SB.