Don’t replace a piano soundboard!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ส.ค. 2020
- Dorset Pianos LTD - Soundboards.
Should you buy a grand piano with a new soundboard?
Bluthner VI restoration in Dorset UK, sound advice about soundboard repair and replacement.
The book used in the video was Piano Servicing, Tuning and Rebuilding
by Arthur A. Reblitz.
For all our stock at Dorset Pianos Ltd please see www.pianos.eu.com
Dorset Pianos Ltd
Email: nigelrware@mac.com
Tel: 07801541058 - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
Thank you so much, such an interesting video, this is love and respect for the instrument!
Your confirmation of my intuition is greatly appreciated. I have recently bought a 1945 Steinway M, with its original soundboard that remains in impeccable condition, and equipped with new hammers and strings. The instrument emanates a resplendent tonality imbued with a warm golden hue, a true testament to its timeless craftsmanship and enduring sonic excellence.
Art Reblitz is still restoring pianos, and he does soundboard replacement these days. He posts on PianoWorld, you can ask him yourself. That book was published in 1976 when soundboard replacement wasn't really done except in factories under rare circumstances.
I wonder if the 3rd edition takes a different stance?
@@ElikemTheTuner I don’t know but Reblitz posts on PianoWorld. I also know that this video was posted with the intention of trashing another rebuilder in the UK who replaces soundboards regularly
I have acquired a Baldwin grand five feet ten inches which has a small crack in the sound board, will that change the sound much and if I repair it, os there any type of caulking you would recommend?
I have cracks on the soundboard of my new old piano pleyel, 1884, should I leave it alone ? As apparently won't affect sound..I don't think there is a buzz
I have a 1886 Knabe concert grand 7'5''. Original uncracked soundboard and the original ribs are all well attached. Yes the upper two octaves are not up to par with what I am sure a new soundbaord would give me but from the rest of the piano has tone that I consider to be as good as what a new soundboard would give me and has a tone I don't believe a new board would give me. . I agree with Mr Dorset: there is a magic in a piece of wood almost 140 years old. no way I would ever change it out.
Some grand piano soundboards are so cracked and deformed the crown is not recoverable. A new soundboard is the only solution short of condemning it to the dump. Many pianos have been brought back to life with new soundboards so generally extensive belly work is a judgement call.
It is a judgment call but logically only for sentimental reasons not to restore the original intended tone!
I have shimmed many sound boards and have replaced even more. A dead board, even when shimmed, will not come back to life. Much has to do on whether it was designed and/or made well in the first place, and whether the wood has failed on a cellular level. Yes, not all wood ages well. A piano with a dead board will sound more like a banjo (my words) and when a new board that rings when thumped is installed, the piano is vastly improved. (Along with a dozen other qualities) A good belly man is at the heart of a factory. There is so much involved in designing and building soundboards: C&C vs. rib crowned, etc., that to say never replace one is probably not advice I’d take without talking to other rebuilders and experts in piano manufacturing. I respect your opinion, but viewers should know that shimming is not necessarily best in all instances.
It is a judgment call but logically only for sentimental reasons not to restore the original intended tone!
Hello, I have a question: this old soundboard must have lost his original crown and it must be very flat now. How do you increase the downbearing?
Thanks
It is extremely rare for a piano soundboard to loose its crown, even with many splits. To simply test the crown on the soundboard is to play a note in the middle of the treble and see if the resonance lasts for more than 4 seconds, if it doesn’t then the crown has gone.
A crown on a piano soundboard is under more than 1.5 tonne of pressure throughout its life and takes some serious atmospheric disaster to flatten it.
An old sound board will have most likely lost the necessary curve. Shimming is not going to restaure the original sound.
What glue do you use for those shims?
PVA glue creates a excellent bond.
Very interesting comments. I can now more clearly see the intensity of music folk that may be part of what lead to riots after Stravinsky released The Rite of Spring into the world. 😅
The soundboard is the soal of the instrument.
The late Dorset based piano tuner Peter "Jock" Cooper used to say:- If an old grand piano does NOT have a cracked soundboard, it was not a good quality piano in the first place.
Ridiculous comment
@@stevejacksonpianos Why do you say that? Do you know anything about pianos?
@@gaugeonesteam As a matter of fact, ive been rebuilding pianos for over 50 years am Steinway certified, former president of a ptg chapter, have a long concert tech and have replaced many soundboards. And your qualification to make comments?
@@stevejacksonpianos Well, I'm not Steinway certified but I have been tuning, repairing, supplying and transporting pianos for around 40 years. a high % of the older grand pianos I see here in the UK do indeed have cracked sound boards and every restorer I've ever spoken to here says it's better to repair a soundboard if at all possible. Jock Cooper's point was:- the relatively thin wood used for sound boards in old pianos cannot tolerate modern centrally heated homes and will very often crack.
@@gaugeonesteam Nonsense
What a relief to hear this statement. I cannot understand this US-American philosophy of replacing soundboards in almost each and every case. It’s a barbarian approach and completely unthinkable in German-speaking part of Europe, where it’s done in extreme cases only.
What utter foolish reasoning.
You should talk!
@@hampshirepiano6383 Gee, i guess those cracks magically stop at the bridge and don't go underneath.
And the internal compression forces (needed for tone enhancement) are not there anymore either. So for tonal beauty and longevity, its really a sub-par costly repair. I don't know how anyone could say differently?
@@ChernobieffPiano splits are cosmetic in the vast majority of cases, split soundboard does not mean a lost crown! If the crown is lost then replace the piano!
Got it. I'll just throw my 1902 Mason and Hamlin BB with its rare burl mahogany and hand carvings in the dump, and buy a 150k new one.
@@ChernobieffPiano sometimes you just have to quit, yes because once you fit a soundboard it won’t be a Mason soundboard, unless Mason make and fit it.
Spoken by someone who has not the skills to replace or property restore a soundboard. It's made out of wood. There's no magic Steinway tree or Steinway forest and secret formulas. With this logic one should not replace any parts whatsoever
I think there is almost a magic Steinway tree. Top piano manufacturers are pretty selective about the wood they use
and 120 years ago old slowly grown trees produced excellent quality timber for piano soundboards which I believe were also well seasoned before being made into soundboards. Most piano experts I know always say it is better to save the old soundboard if at all possible. Stradivarius is said to have had a secret formula for the varnish of his violins and some guitar players claim that good quality acoustic guitars improve with playing. ie: the vibrations of the strings and the natural ageing over time improves the tone quality of the wood.
Thanks for your comment Steve, not sure why your on the attack unless your business is to replace split soundboards? As mentioned in the video it’s a text book repair. Our business has been established since 1963 and are tech know how can be traced back over 100 years.
We would write off a piano which has lost its crown as the soundboard replacement would no longer have the same shape or have the same quality of seasoned Spruce or recognised technique of the brand to fit, so as Steinways quote on their website, “replace a Steinway soundboard and you will end up with a Steinwas”