Documentary on building a grand piano showing on ABC 2 this Sunday starting at 8.30pm.
Craig....a commentary from you following the program would be much appreciated.
Cheers Martin
Piano building program on ABC this Sunday
Thanks for the heads-up Martin . I wasn't aware of the programme . I'll check it out . Strange how I've never thought of including pianos on this forum even though they are a stringed instrument . I encourage others to watch it as well as I'm sure there will be very relevant information useful to builders of all sorts of other instruments.
Just saw the add for it on the tele. Building a Steinway . Definatley worth catching . Hopefully they'll show soundboard construction and the like , which most will find very interesting.Looks to be the American Steinway company as apposed to the Hamburg factory . Two different beasts altogether.
Just saw the add for it on the tele. Building a Steinway . Definatley worth catching . Hopefully they'll show soundboard construction and the like , which most will find very interesting.Looks to be the American Steinway company as apposed to the Hamburg factory . Two different beasts altogether.
Craig Lawrence
Bloody oath I'll be tuned in. Thanks for the heads up. Far better than watching that reality TV crap.
Anytime you want to document some piano work Craig, I'll be very interested in reading and seeing what you do.
I had a music teacher in high school that built a harpsichord, as her and her husband were really into that style of music. Was a beautiful instrument, and sounded great. I couldn't imagine at the time that anyone would go to the trouble of building one. Now I know better.
Anytime you want to document some piano work Craig, I'll be very interested in reading and seeing what you do.
I had a music teacher in high school that built a harpsichord, as her and her husband were really into that style of music. Was a beautiful instrument, and sounded great. I couldn't imagine at the time that anyone would go to the trouble of building one. Now I know better.
Apparently the program is showing next Sundya on ABC 1.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/abc2/200 ... 203000.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/abc2/200 ... 203000.htm
Whilst that was a very enjoyable and interesting programme , I was dissapointed it didn't show the detail on a lot of their building steps . Doesn't really surprise me though , Steinway have always kept their techniques fairly quiet. Still, to be fair to the producers of the programme,( and Steinway ) with only an hour and twenty minutes , there is only so much they could include . It was however a great insight to the everyday happenings of the factory . The loyalty and commitment of their workers was very evident, and to me , seems a very happy environment.
Those who saw the programme would have noticed their side/rim bending proceedure !
,,,, and you think we have it tough bending a set of guitar sides ! Although it wasn't explained , the rims are made up of several laminations , but still require around 8 blokes to get the thing bent and fitted to the jig .Soundboard liners used on pianos are very substantial. They are laminated as well . This is to not only cope with the stresses involved ,but contain much of the soundboard's movement .( Relevant to those guitar builders debating whether heavy solid liners , and /or laminated sides, are of benefit )
B.T.W. these spruce soundboards are around 3/8 " ( 9.5 mm.) thick which probably seem a little oversize to most of us , but as a piano has around 240 strings , the stress from end to end is about twenty tons . Although the string down bearing angle on the bridges is only slight ( measured with feeler guages ) , it still equates to roughly 6 ton . You would have noticed the string passes between two off set bridge pins. This provides positive downbearing and lessons the need for such a dramatic break angle.
I had thought about puting this same idea to guitars many years ago only to find Steve Grimes had patented the idea in the 90's . From what I remember , Gibson bought the patent , but to my knowledge , have yet to utilize it. Grimes still has the right to use it for a set number of instruments per year. The advantage of this system is that you could build a flat top guitar with a tailpiece arrangement and disregard the lack of downbearing a flat top offers.A number of attempts have been made by luthiers to emulate the design without encroaching the patent. Incidently ,piano bridges are usually made of Maple , although I have seen other variations of a maple capping over end grain.This ,supposedly to transmit more excitement to the soundboard. The 'black' on top is a graphite mixture ,painted on and buffed to aid the string's movement through the pins
Anyhow , if you missed the programme last night , I recommend you watch the repeat next Sunday on ABC1. If you've never had the pleasure to experience a Steinway 'D' , you're in for a mind blowing treat . I've worked on a heap of these ( both American and Hamburg models ) as a concert tuner and piano rebuilder .I've never tired of their 'Magic" . Enough to make your hair stand on end ( if you still have some left )
Those who saw the programme would have noticed their side/rim bending proceedure !
,,,, and you think we have it tough bending a set of guitar sides ! Although it wasn't explained , the rims are made up of several laminations , but still require around 8 blokes to get the thing bent and fitted to the jig .Soundboard liners used on pianos are very substantial. They are laminated as well . This is to not only cope with the stresses involved ,but contain much of the soundboard's movement .( Relevant to those guitar builders debating whether heavy solid liners , and /or laminated sides, are of benefit )B.T.W. these spruce soundboards are around 3/8 " ( 9.5 mm.) thick which probably seem a little oversize to most of us , but as a piano has around 240 strings , the stress from end to end is about twenty tons . Although the string down bearing angle on the bridges is only slight ( measured with feeler guages ) , it still equates to roughly 6 ton . You would have noticed the string passes between two off set bridge pins. This provides positive downbearing and lessons the need for such a dramatic break angle.
I had thought about puting this same idea to guitars many years ago only to find Steve Grimes had patented the idea in the 90's . From what I remember , Gibson bought the patent , but to my knowledge , have yet to utilize it. Grimes still has the right to use it for a set number of instruments per year. The advantage of this system is that you could build a flat top guitar with a tailpiece arrangement and disregard the lack of downbearing a flat top offers.A number of attempts have been made by luthiers to emulate the design without encroaching the patent. Incidently ,piano bridges are usually made of Maple , although I have seen other variations of a maple capping over end grain.This ,supposedly to transmit more excitement to the soundboard. The 'black' on top is a graphite mixture ,painted on and buffed to aid the string's movement through the pins
Anyhow , if you missed the programme last night , I recommend you watch the repeat next Sunday on ABC1. If you've never had the pleasure to experience a Steinway 'D' , you're in for a mind blowing treat . I've worked on a heap of these ( both American and Hamburg models ) as a concert tuner and piano rebuilder .I've never tired of their 'Magic" . Enough to make your hair stand on end ( if you still have some left
)Craig Lawrence
I thoroughly enjoyed the program, but did think that we could have done with a lot less chatter from pianists, and more detail on the building. I suppose that instrument builders are in a minority of the viewers though.
I certainly can see the appeal of working in a factory environment like that though. Still so much emphasis placed on quality, and hand crafting all the pieces for a perfect fit.
What surprised me is the number of bodies in the conditioning room. Then heard that they make about 2,000 pianos a year. So I guess you need that many "aging". That's still about 4 pianos going out the door every week, and with that one taking a year to make, they've got to have a hell of a lot of "work in progress"
Must have very deep pockets to be able to carry that much inventory, and payroll, on such a luxury item.
I certainly can see the appeal of working in a factory environment like that though. Still so much emphasis placed on quality, and hand crafting all the pieces for a perfect fit.
What surprised me is the number of bodies in the conditioning room. Then heard that they make about 2,000 pianos a year. So I guess you need that many "aging". That's still about 4 pianos going out the door every week, and with that one taking a year to make, they've got to have a hell of a lot of "work in progress"
Must have very deep pockets to be able to carry that much inventory, and payroll, on such a luxury item.
I missed the show......running low tech TVs here. Will watch the show when it runs on ABC 1 next Sunday.
Have been putting off buying a new TV while I get my head around the technology. Would rather spend the money on a few sets of Tassie Blackwood but I havent been able to convince the boss of the entertainment value of tonewood.
Have been putting off buying a new TV while I get my head around the technology. Would rather spend the money on a few sets of Tassie Blackwood but I havent been able to convince the boss of the entertainment value of tonewood.
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