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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
That Cracked Sounding=Board.
A
LARGE proportion of the total
number of pianos more than one
year old have cracks in the sounding-board.
This may seem to be a strong and unwar-
ranted statement, but it is very close to the
truth and backed up by a long and varied
experience. These cracks rarely affect the
tone of an instrument noticeably; in fact,
they scarcely ever cause a jarring sound
unless one of the ribs or braces gets loose,
or the board itself comes unglued from its
place in the case. Any hard, loose sub-
stance, even if no larger than the proverbial
pin, will cause more disturbance in the tone
.than the most wicked looking crack, but the
pin is easily removed, the crack is not.
Many people live in blissful ignorance of
the existence of any such trouble, or in the
firm belief that it does not exist, thinking
that the first sign of a crack will be
heralded by an ominous rattle or other dire
and dreadful sound. Tuners will not re-
port, either to the owners or sellers of
pianos, any cracked boards that come to
their notice, knowing full well that if all
the cracked boards were properly rectified,
it would, in many cases, mean ruin to the
reputation of the piano, and to builders
financially as well, and unless proper re-
pairs are made it is far better for the board
to be let alone with its little crack which
harms nobody, provided nobody knows of
it, than to have the piano further injured
and the peace of mind of its owner dis-
turbed by so-called repairs.
We have
known one of the most honorable and vener-
able dealers in the trade to come right out
and boldly assert that his house paid little
or no attention to a small crack in a sound-
ing-board, probably owing to the fact before
stated that no firm could live .and do busi-
ness if it attempted to rectify all these little
evils.
The cracked board may be repaired in
two ways, writes E. C. Hall, in the Musi-
cian. The first and only correct way if the
cracks are bad is to replace it with a new
one, entailing, unfortunately, an enormous
expense, because the strings, tuning pins
and iron plate (frame) will have to be re-
moved, and the piano restrung, as the re-
moving of the strings practically destroys
them. The other way is to fill up the
cracks with wedge shaped slivers of wood,
in other words, put.a "dutchman" in. In
this case the crack is almost sure to open
again, even though the sounding-board be
new it is quite as liable to split as the old;
so how much better off are you after all
your trouble?
There is a way of which the writer has
knowledge, whereby a sounding-board may
be incorporated into the case and the
danger of cracking reduced to a minumum.
He also knows of one or two makes of
pianos that are so constructed. This article,
however, is not an advertising scheme, so
no names will be mentioned, but you may
take as much comfort as possible in the
hope that yours is all right.
The material of which a board is made is
silver spruce (from the north), a sufficient
number of strips of which are glued length-
wise together; the board is then planed to
the proper thickness, which is about a
quarter inch on one edge increasing to
about three-eighths on the other. The
board is now ready for the ribs, which are
of the same material as the board itself;
that is, they are strips about an inch square,
cut the proper length, one side of each
being prepared for glueing by the toothed
plane. Now comes a very important part
in the process of manufacture, to wit,
the preparation and putting in of the
board.
This has more influence on the
tone of the instrument than any other one
thing. A sounding-board does not present
a flat plane surface as would seem upon a
casual observation, but has a very per-
ceptible bulge in it, a sort of outward bow
of sufficient strength to sustain the pressure
of the strings, which in turn is regulated by
the height of the bridge. This bulge in
the board and the pressure of the strings
is like two opposing forces, which exactly
counteract each other. Thus you see that
besides being glued in the case, the board
is held in suspension (or perfectly balanced)
by these two strains.
To accomplish this the board is put in
in the following manner: The strips which
are to become the ribs have been heated in
the hot*box (generally a fireproof room,
kept at a very hct temperature, and a very
important adjunct to a piano factory) until
they are almost too hot to handle. They
are now glued in their places with very hot,
thin glue and clamped, the board lying on
a strong bed; the "clamps" used are strong
hickory props, which are sprung in between
the aforesaid ribs and the ceiling of the
room and left there over night. Note that
we had the board cold and the ribs hot, so
that when released the whole will immedi-
ately spring and retain a curve of several
inches. The ribs are now shaped and the
board fitted to its place. Before being
glued there, however, the under or ribbed
side is varnished with a very fine quality of
colorless varnish, and the bridges are glued
on by means of the same process used to
place the ribs.
Having been glued in its place this thin
piece of pine, in its thickest part hardly
three-eighths of an inch, will sustain the
weight of a heavy man and he may dance
on it without doing any damage other than
to leave the marks of his heels in the soft
wood. Yet Father Time can split it, so can
severe or sudden changes of temperature,
or a removal from a damp to a dry location.
Did some one say this skit is unsatisfac-
tory—that no remedy or preventive is held
out? Well—the writer is sorry, but he has
no solace to offer other than that to be
found in piano catalogues, at least none to
those who already own pianos, except that
while a cracked board is certainly damag-
ing and injures the tone to some extent, it
is not such a ruinous calamity as most
people suppose, and may as well be ac-
cepted as one accepts the fact that one
grows older year by year, because, perforce,
one has to.
At Last.
SOME
WORLD S
FAIR
EXHIBITORS
RECEIVE
PRIZF.S THEY WON.
T
HE long expected distribution of Col-
umbian World's Fair diplomas and
medals has begun at last, and on Tuesday
last about 30,000 diplomas and medals, cov-
ering all of the successful German exhibi-
tors at the Fair, were turned over to the
German Ambassador, who will ship them
immediately to his Government for distri-
bution.
Those awarded to American exhibitors
will be ready for delivery within the next
ten days, or two weeks at the furthest, and
the shipments to England, France, Russia,
Spain, Italy and other foreign countries
will be ready for delivery to their respective
diplomatic representatives here within the
next month.
The Steinway Pianos.
M
UCH enthusiasm has been manifested
in the new upright grand piano, re-
cently patented by Messrs. Steinway & Sons,
New York. The great feature of this new
upright grand piano is the steel frame and
Cape d'Astro Bar, cast in one piece. The
following great advantages are obtained by
this new metal string frame: The greatest
possible strength and rigidity is given to
resist the constant upward and downward
strain of the strings. Consequently the
piano will stand in even better tune, and
for a longer period of time. The applica-
tion of the duplex scale system, by this
new construction, is now brought to abso-
lute perfection. A further great result is
a larger volume of tone, vastly increased
singing capacity, and far more sonorous,
brilliant and sympathetic tonal quality of
the same character. These instruments are
now on exhibition at M. Steinert & Sons
Co. 's, Steinert Hall, Boston.—Boston
Times.
THE statement recently issued by the
Falls- City Veneer and Panel Co., Louis-
ville, Ky., who recently assigned, shows
liabilities $16,839.45, and assets, $20,294.-
46. They expect to resume business in a
short time.
ion
Is afforded the dealer and mu-
sician who sells or plays that
modern and artistic creation, the
Henry F. Hiller
Piano.
It is one of the best examples of
all that is latest and best in the
realm
of piano construction.
That's the reason wide-awake
dealers should handle it.
F.
88 BOYLSTON STREET
BOSTON, MASS.