What makes our piano soundboards better then the rest?
The best way to start the conversation is to quote a well known person in the industry for
soundboard technology and design, Dell Fandrich;
The tone potential and sound quality of any given piano is determined by a number of mechanical
and design characteristics over which the piano technician and/or rebuilder will have varying
degrees of control, sometimes none. Among these are the following: The overall design and
construction of the frame and supporting structure of the piano ( the plate, rim, rim bracing, belly
rail, etc. The soundboard scale ( its design and construction, the material used-- and how it is
mounted to the rim, its condition, etc. The stringing scale used --the string lengths, diameters,
tensions, etc. The type (and condition) of the hammers and action used.
The case for Sitka spruce. It really does have what it takes!
Normally, one of three species of spruce is used for soundboards. They are eastern white,
Englemann and Sitka spruce. The following chart compares three of the most critical mechanical
characteristics of these woods for use as piano soundboard material.
Specific gravity is the average weight of the wood compared to water. In general, for both
soundboards and ribs, the lighter the better. Specific gravity varies with grain density. Boards with a
high "grains/inch" count are more dense than boards with a low "grains/inch" count. They are also
stiffer --it's a trade-off, you can't have both. Also, the actual weight of any soundboard and rib
assembly will vary with its moisture content. All species of spruce have approximately the same
specific gravity.
The Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) is the ratio of stress to strain within the elastic limit of the wood
sample. Stress is unit force, or the amount of force or load acting on a unit of area. Strain is unit
deformation, or the actual amount of bending resulting from a given load acting on the wood
sample. For soundboard wood, the higher the MOE the better. Wood with a high MOE will resist
bending under load better than wood with a low MOE. In other words it will be stiffer and better able
to support the strings' downbearing force acting against the soundboards crown. Sitka spruce has a
much higher MOE than other spruces. In fact, Sitka spruce has one of the highest
stiffness-to-weight ratios of all readily available wood.
Compression Perpendicular to Grain is a measure of the ability of a given wood to resist
compression perpendicular to grain up to its proportional limit., that is, before fiber failure. Wood is
hygroscopic. As it absorbs and desorbs moisture, it will expand and shrink if it can. Once a
soundboard is installed in a piano, though, its ability to expand is severely limited so the swelling
wood cells create internal compression instead. Woods with higher compression perpendicular to
grain ratings will resist fiber damage resulting from internal compression better than woods with
lower ratings. Of all the spruces, Sitka spruce has the best compression perpendicular to grain
rating, it has a greater ability to resist failure due to fiber crushing.
Studying the chart above indicates that there is one type of spruce that stands out from the others
in two of the three important parameters listed. Sitka spruce has the highest modulus of elasticity
and it has a higher compression perpendicular to grain rating.
There are several other characteristics of Sitka spruce that single it out as one of the worlds best
woods for piano soundboards. Its evenness and uniformity of grain and its warm white to light
golden tan and rose color are unsurpassed for beauty. Its low internal friction properties provide
near perfect damping qualities. Dell Fandrich
We are not attempting to compare a piano to a violin or a cello however we are going to look at the
way these instruments are manufactured for the purpose of explaining, how we make our piano
soundboards different then anyone else in the world.
First our piano soundboards are made from Solid Sitka Spruce, and looking at the chart below you
can see that it exceeds the limits of durability over that of our competitors soundboards, Bolduc of
Canada.
I would like to make clear that we are only doing a comparative study and this is not meant in anyway
to make disparaging remarks about the Bolduc company and the product they make. We are simply
attempting to explain what makes our soundboards different.
The Eastern White Spruce soundboards constructed in Canada are not tone tested, nor are they
matched for continuity with the ribs and soundboard together as one unit.
When we manufacture our soundboards, we use a technique that is used throughout the stringed
instrument industry called tone matching.
Each piece of spruce used to make a stringed instrument soundboard has a unique tone that it
gives off when tapped using a method known as Tap Tone Testing. The tones vary from piece to
piece.
The objective is to choose pieces that are closest to each other in tone as well as sustain. Many of
the pieces of Spruce used to make soundboards are discarded by many instrument makers because
they do not provide a tone conducive for the instrument, they do not provide sustain and many
produce a dead sound. You would not want to put this piece into a $50,000.00 piano, violin, or any
stringed instrument for that matter.
When you cut all of the pieces (fl itches) to the same dimension and tone test each one, you have
the ability at this point to choose the best sounding fl itches for the piano soundboard unit as a
whole.
In order to do this correctly, you must cut all the pieces to the same dimensions prior to testing, this
gives you a greater ability to predict the tonal outcome of the soundboard when constructed.
Our soundboards are voiced in this fashion to produce the best tone uniformly across the entire
soundboard. This gives us the ability create a soundboard for each size piano. Some smaller grand
pianos have no problem in the high end but suffer greatly in the lower octaves. The larger the
piano, the different the tone we require the pieces to produce.
We also tone match the ribs of the piano, if the piece of wood sings in a high frequency, it should be
used in the high end of the piano and so forth.
We are the only company that employees this method of soundboard construction in the world. Not
even your high end piano manufacturers employ this method because the wood that is discarded
effects the bottom line.
Three out of ten pieces of Spruce are discarded because they do not produce within our acceptable
limits of tone and sustain.
Other soundboard manufacturers are concerned with making a soundboard that looks pretty and is
uniform in color where exposed, this is called color matching.
Color matching is important to insure a uniform esthetic view however, this has nothing to do with
the tone.
Our soundboards are both uniform in color as well as tone. We will not make the sacrifice of
forsaking one for the other, this is why our soundboards are custom made not massed production of
just inserting the pieces to match color.
There is so much going on inside a well built piano, the last thing you want to worry about is, did the
soundboard maker give you the best they could have or just a generic soundboard that will fit the
rim.
The secrete to the Stradivarius Violin was not the strings or bow but the soundboard the instrument
was constructed from and the method used in doing so that set it apart from the rest of the makers.
We believe that our soundboards are just that, set apart from the rest of the piano soundboard
makers.
Our soundboards are superior in the following categories:
1. They are made from Superior Wood, Sitka Spruce, the same material that Steinway & Sons has
used for generations, why would you want to install a soundboard into a Steinway piano, that
Steinway never used. We want your piano to be as authentic as possible and in so doing our
soundboards are made from the same material.
2. Our soundboards are glued together with Hot Hide Glue the same way they are made at the
Steinway Factory in New York and in Germany, to this very day. All others use glue which leads to
compression ridges and possible joint failure.
3. Our soundboards are stronger, and custom color matched for appearance.
4. Our soundboards are subjected to such harsh scrutiny, so that we can provide you with the best
made piano soundboard money can buy.
5. Our soundboards have undergone testing by some of the most notable piano rebuilders in the
United States and hold up under the most stringent of critics.
6. We make certain that each of our soundboards we construct is made from properly seasoned
Sitka Spruce. Our Seasoned wood is cut and seasoned two years prior to becoming a soundboard.
7. We that choose the pieces for the soundboard and tone test prior to construction are musicians,
we play the piano, violin, guitar, drums, and several other instruments, we know what good music
should sound like.
We believe that one should be a musician, have exceptional standard and taste for richness in tone
to do this work.
Our attempts to produce a soundboard that produces world class tone is in the performance of
every soundboard we make, and the custom soundboards we build are, the singing voice of the
piano.
Regarding Sitka Spruce Soundboards
Sitka spruce soundboards reside on more concert stages, then any other soundboard in the
world.
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Species
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Specific Gravity
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Modulus of
Elasticity
(million psi)
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Compression
Perpendicular to
Grain (psi)
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Sitka Spruce
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0.38
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1.60 - 1.63
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580
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Eastern White
Spruce
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0.36
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1.30 - 1.45
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430
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Englemann Spruce
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0.38
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1.30 - 1.55
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410
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