This is really a "What can you afford"question.
But i'll share some helpful principles of good soundboard making. The strength to weight ratio and size is KING. The compression soundboard when installed and made properly is the best performing soundboard for the modern piano. The compression soundboard maximizes the strength to weight ratio when design and made properly. It uses to full effect the hygroscopic nature of wood for strength. The rib scale takes advantage of the panel stiffness by using a lower height profile which translates into maximum projection of tone. Also a properly installed compression board uses tension along the grain. So compression across the grain and tension along the grain. The soundboard at that point is equal to a tight skin on a drum. Notice when drum heads tear, no one talks about restoring those, just replace. Again showing it's just a cost factor for piano soundboards.
All other soundboard design ideas make compromises on the basic concepts of strength, weight, size, and projection.
e.g.
Cutoff bars takes away size. And shortens ribs =loss of projection.
Ribs to large takes adds weight and takes away projection.
Also, ribs too tall in the case of rib crowned soundboards takes away projection. Although this system is also used with cutoff bars as well.
With soundboards that are old, a lot of the internal forces are gone as well as the wood is fatiged which is not good in itself.
The idea that old wood is better than new wood, is a myth and a mistaken premise. There is a video of a blind test with violinists playing old violins and new ones. I believe the top two were a Strad and New maker (can't remember his name). BTW, their is no such thing as a true Strad as they have all been refitted and worked on by many violin restorers. So we dont really know what they originally sounded like. So in the blind the Strad that co-won was really a testament to last tech that worked on it.
So with piano soundboards wood selection is the key factor. All manufactureres preferred a Red Spruce which has great tonal qualities as their number one choice. Sitka was a forced second choice because of government regulations which created a lack of supply. They are still out there and plentiful you just can't use it. And because of current forestry practices, a fire is what ends up destroying them, not harvesting. In Europe, they are very concientious of fires and the old growth forest are manage with pretty good harvesting guidelines for instrument makers over the lumber trade. There's nothing as dissapointing as hearing about an old growth spruce tree that was made into 2x4's.
So with repaired and restored boards the two main issues is wood fatigue and loss of compression and tension and thus crown too. They can still sound good, but its not a sound that ultimately inspires, especially after playing a really good new one. I've played on hundreds of pianos over the years,same models too, but only 5 pianos stand out as better than all those others. It's similar to, and reminds me of my first vehicle, a 66 chevy pick up truck. I thought that was the greatest, until i drove a Ferrari. Because i follow the basic principles, i can provide my clients Ferrari's, but there is nothing wrong with an old pick up truck if thats all person can afford.
In the end we are really in the people business, not the piano business. So that is what determines the course of action to take to make people happy.
-chris
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Chernobieff Piano Restorations
Inertia Touch Wave(ITW) The most advanced silky smooth actions.
Engineered Hygroscopic Soundboards. The strongest and lightest boards made today for acoustic projection, richness and warmth.
865-986-7720 (text only please)
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-29-2025 10:45
From: Peter Grey
Subject: Thoughts on old restored soundboards and pinblocks
It's my understanding that in Europe they remove, dismantle and restore soundboards, and use pinblock inserts in the original carcass (typically). If anyone has alternate info on that I'm all ears. I've seen some pretty nice jobs that way.
Peter Grey Piano Doctor
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Peter Grey
Stratham NH
(603) 686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com
Original Message:
Sent: 04-28-2025 18:26
From: Nathan Monteleone
Subject: Thoughts on old restored soundboards and pinblocks
So the soundboard again has been hotly debated for decades... It seems like a reasonable middle ground consensus might go like this:
- Old soundboards do not sound quite like new soundboards, even if you shim, fill, repair, epoxy treat, or otherwise do things to them.
- The sound of an old soundboard that is structurally sound and has adequate downbearing, is often quite good. It's usually a more still, sweet sound without quite as much bloom or power, but some people may even prefer it.
- The sound of an old soundboard that is not structurally sound, or doesn't have adequate downbearing, is just bad.
- Good spruce is hard to come by and getting harder by the decade, so one can make an argument that it's more ethical to retain the original board if it can meet the customer's needs.
As in inspector I would check the downbearing in all sections. Just to be safe I'd also use a stretched string to make sure there was still _some_ crown in the board. If not, and some other means were taken to restore downbearing, it might still sound ok but I think the buyer should be aware of it... Especially if there's reverse crown it _might_ indicate future tuning stability problems. Or not.
I'd also check (with the seller's permission) the nose bolts, to make sure downbearing wasn't restored via the dirty trick of simply cranking them down and flexing the plate.
Original Message:
Sent: 4/28/2025 9:55:00 AM
From: Luke Taylor
Subject: Thoughts on old restored soundboards and pinblocks
Hello All,
I'm curious about what everyone's thoughts are on piano rebuilds with "restored" soundboards and "restored" pinblocks. I may be inspecting a Steinway soon that contains a filled and re-lacquered soundboard and a "pinblock restored with new material." I'm not entirely sure what that means (pinblock restored with new material) and hope to find out by asking the rebuilder, but my question is more general.
Assuming you were acquiring a piano with a restored soundboard and pinblock from 1939, and they all appeared to be in good working order (soundboard produced good tone and sustain, has crown and downbearing; pinblock has good tuning pin tightness and feel), what are the downsides to such an instrument. I'm curious if anyone has any insights into how a well restored soundboard and pinblock might compare to an instrument with a new soundboard and pinblock. Are there longevity issues or stability issues that wouldn't be immediately observable
Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
Best,
Luke
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Luke Taylor
Duarte CA
(310) 386-7014
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