Cracked soundboard upright piano

Piano repair piano defects and damaged fixed during piano. It should be remembered, however, that it is the strings, and not the soundboard, that originate, by their vibratory motions after they have been struck, the sound which the soundboard amplifies. Brigham larson, registered piano technician, dispels the myth that a broken soundboard always means a piano is no longer playable. Many of the severe problems i have named in previous paragraphs cracked soundboard, split bridges, cracked pin. What is a sound board how to check your piano sound board. I keep hearing those words about doomed pianos, and wonder why they have to be doomed. For this reason, a crack in the soundboard reduces the soundboards ability to amplify the vibrations of the strings only in relation to how much of the surface area the crack reduces the vibrating area of the board.

Many vintage steinway and sons grand pianos and upright pianos exhibit cracking and. Repairing or replacing a pianos soundboard bradfield piano. If you open up the lid of either your upright or grand piano and look down, you will see. In a traditionally made, solid spruce soundboard, the crown is maintained by.

You are looking at the front of the sound board area and the lower end of the treble bridge in the lower left an upright from the turn of the century from leipzig. Thus, the soundboard of the piano acts just as does the parchment head of a drum or the thin steel diaphragm of the receiver element in a telephone. Once you get to the point where strings need to be removed, the labor charges go up. There are certain things you should know about soundboards. Piano restoration costs piano restoration pricing guide 2019. Piano soundboard restoration is an exacting and timed honed process. The good news is that this has nothing to do with the tuning. It all depends see our article on the subject here. An upright piano, spinet through upright grand sizes, cannot be slid off of the tuning pins as the keybed limits movement in that direction. Open the lid of your upright or grand piano, and youll see a shiny, thin piece of wood beneath the iron plate that runs along the back or bottom of your instrument. T he pianos that have their soundboards replaced are often vintage pianos or pianos that have been exposed to adverse conditions. Soundboard areas vary with the size of various pianos, but consider for example a board with an area of 4,000 square inches, counting both surfaces.

Soundboards vary in size depending on how large the piano is. If you crack open the lid of either your grand or upright piano and look down, you will see a shiny piece of wood behind the iron plate that runs the entire area of the bottom or back of the instrument. Soundboard cracks demystified south jersey piano service. In extreme cases, cracked boards can produce a buzzing sound, but this can be corrected through repair. A cracked pinblock can be replaced, and a cracked soundboard can certainly be repaired or replaced. The soundboard is what allows the piano to project its sound.

Its exciting has to be an upright or my wife will throw the veto. I cant count the number of times someone has said to me. A cracked harp plate is an important issue, but in most cases can be remedied by new technologies in welding and mending. At least on the east coast, i would think most soundboards will be cracked. Soundboard repair oxford piano service piano tuning. Years of vibration and climate changes can cause the soundboard s pieces to split at the seams. Thats why its essential to conduct regular maintenance and repair of your soundboard. Just curious what, really, is the big deal about a cracked soundboard on an older piano. But before we go any further we must be sure we all know where and what is a soundboard and why it cracks. If you notice a soundboard crack in a piano you are looking to buy, be sure to have a qualified piano technician look at it first a good idea to begin with when buying a used piano. The sound board is a five eighths inch thick wooden board in the back of the piano.

Recording techniques for upright piano sound on sound. Now assume that there is a crack in this board 35inches long and oneeighthinch wide, which would be an enormous crack. Whether you have a grand piano or an upright piano, fixing cracks is one of the most common soundboard repairs. The pianos action is the mechanism that causes the felt hammers to strike the strings when you play a key. If you crack open the lid of either your grand or upright piano and look down, you will see a shiny piece of wood behind the iron plate that runs the. If the crack is small, but wide, it can be cleaned and a soundboard shim can be installed fairly simply. The soundboard is a large, thin wooden plate which acts as an amplifier of the sound produced by the vibrating strings its purpose is to radiate a large volume of sound over a wide frequency range. In a grand piano, the sound board is part of the case. Soundboard replacement is not a requirement for most pianos but if your piano is lacking tone and resonance in the high treble or anywhere else, it may be time to replace your soundboard. Graymarket pianos and cracked soundboards pianobuyer. Fire sucks moisture out of the airand your pianofaster than you can say, my soundboard cracked.

Sometimes when the soundboard gets cracks in it, the ribs come unglued from it in places. You can trust bradfield piano for your soundboard repair and replacement needs. A large, fullsize upright piano has longer strings and a larger soundboard than a baby grand piano. If you look under your strings in a grand piano or at the back of your upright behind the posts you will see the soundboard. Bartolomeo cristofori may 4, 1655, january 27, 1731 invented the piano forte. Unless you hear strange noises, you might not need to repair a cracked soundboard. It really only needs to be done if the crack is large wide and long enough to cause the soundboard to buzz or if if the sound of the instrument is adversely affected by the crack.

It is a tricky clamping job, as planks want to swim. Like the top of a stradivarius violin, the soundboard is the wood beneath all the strings and plate of the piano which gives it its unique quality of sound. A pianos soundboard is one of the most important pieces on a piano. I know that the piano is just junk to a serious pianist, but id like to try and repair it and have it tuned. When manufactured, the soundboard has built into it a curvature or crown.

The heart and soul of your piano is its soundboard. Many soundboard cracks are irrelevant, as they do not affect the sound of the piano unless the soundboard has come loose from the ribs. On upright pianos, you have to lift the top and look above the tuning pins. Cheap pianos can have a laminated soundboard similar to plywood and this doesnt vibrate so freel.

After purchase, make sure you protect your instrument by keeping humidity levels between 35 and 65% and you should be ok. In europe if you replace the soundboard on a piano you are legally not allowed to put the name of the original manufacturer on the instrument. Cracks in a piano soundboard are common and often are not sufficient reason to replace a soundboard. The frame in cheaper old upright pianos is often half plate in nearly all pianos made after 1880 is mairony cast iron. If you open up the lid of either your upright or grand piano and look down, you will see a shiny piece of wood that runs the down the back or the bottom of the instrument. Any piano with a little age on it will have a cracked soundboard, and any piano that is restored by any piano shop can have soundboard issues corrected and addressed properly. A piano with a cracked soundboard should be carefully checked for. All who heard the piano gave kind comments on the sound, so it worked.

For example, if a baby grand piano is 5 feet long, at least 12 inches of that length is going to be the keyboard before the strings and soundboard begin. The sound board, depending on the instrument, is called a top plate, table, soundtable, or belly. Best upright piano classical piano music piano street. You also have to take into account that the results you have after replacing the soundboard might be. Precision piano services can repair extensive damage or defects on fine. As always, if youre selling, offer a fair price to your buyer based on the condition and age of the piano. Soundboard cracks are glued and set as needed, and bridge repairs are made as needed. So youve noticed the soundboard of your piano has a crackor perhaps many cracks. When an original soundboard needs restoration, we evaluate the board to ensure structural integrity, hand sand it and repair any damage utilizing our special methods. How costly is it to fixed a cracked sound board in a piano. A soundboard is made up of many planks, which are planed and fitted one to another extremely precisely, to ensure a strong glue joint that is never to come apart. A new soundboard is custom tapered and fitted into the specific piano.

Upright plates are cleaned and regilded, and soundboards are. Perhaps it looks less like a smooth, machined piece of carpentry and more like a freight pallet. The vertical or upright piano is the most popular type, because it takes up the least floor space. We use a router and a custom jig to remove the cracked wood and create a smooth, even groove. Welcome to estey piano piano rebuilding services piano. A cracked soundboard doesnt necessarily affect the ability of the piano to make music, and so the piano may be acceptable as a donation. A piano with a cracked soundboard should be carefully checked for rib separations before purchase. These cracks cause buzzing and lack of power in the instrument. The soundboard, which is the large wooden board you can see from the back of an upright piano or from underneath a grand, has ribs glued on it to strengthen it. On the back of it, it has one inch ribs which stabilize it by running against the grain of the sound board.

Ask about it at your next tuning or when scheduling your. I want to be sure the soundboard isnt crackedi dont want a heavy piece of junk in my living room. This usually will eliminate the offending noise when the piano is played. The soundboard on a top quality piano is made of spruce and the sound is transferred to it from the strings via the bridge.

Most pianos on the east coast have cracked soundboards. Donating, converting, or recycling your piano pianobuyer. Any separation of a rib from the soundboard at a crack is a potential source of buzzing noises. Cracked soundboards are actually quite common, especially in this climate. Cracks can be repaired, retaining the original soundboard.

I need you to take a look at this piano and tell me if i should buy it. Look inside for hammers scooped in the middle by too many hours most used steinways have this problem hammer shafts bent, cracked iron frame, mouse eaten. A quick and simple test is to finger pluck your highest octave and listen if the tone projects through the entire piano and more importantly the. A cracked soundboard can be repaired, many times without rebuilding the whole piano, at a very reasonable cost. The soundboards function is to take and repeat the vibrational movements of the strings, creating air sound waves that are vastly greater than. Cracked soundboards piano tuning in edmonton daniels piano.

Id like to have it tuned and learn to play it, however, it has a cracked sound board. Cracks and rib separations are usually repaired at. A good quality soundboard can l ast 100 years or more. A piano s soundboard is one of the most important pieces on a piano. For this reason, a crack in the soundboard reduces the soundboard s ability to amplify the vibrations of the strings only in relation to how much of the surface area the crack reduces the vibrating area of the board. During restauration, they dried the piano down to 20 percent humidity, so that even some more cracks occured during that. Make sure its not cracked and that the ribs, pins, and bridges inside arent cracked or broken. One method for repairing cracks in a soundboard requires inserting a shim of wood into the cracked board. Theres another strategy for upright pianos, though, which a lot of musicians dont consider, and that is miking the soundboard from behind the piano something that was done, for example, on a bunch of jerry lee lewis records. When purchasing a grand piano dont buy one with a cracked soundboard, a pressure ridge or 2 is all right. Even then, a cracked plate can be repaired, by the right person, using the right materials but of all piano repairs, repairing a cracked plate is by far the most risky, due to the enormous tension from the strings.

I dont think my piano is worth anythingthe soundboard is cracked. All stringed instruments have some type of soundboard most are built directly into the body of the instrument, such as the violin or the harp. Repair of rib separations can usually be done at reasonable cost without rebuilding the piano. These pictures illustrate a horrifying soundboard repair performed on a.

A basic repair for this in an upright piano is to insert glue between the soundboard and the ribs closest to the crack and draw the soundboard. The ribs run perpendicular to the grain of the soundboard, and therefore perpendicular to any cracks. There is a crack in my pianos sound board, caused, i believe, by being stored in an arid place. After that they filled the cracks, and put the soundboard back to convex shape. If you already own a piano with a cracked soundboard, dont despair. If the crack is small and doesnt buzz, theres no need to fix it. This mysterious piece of vegetative product is the most misunderstood part of our favorite instrument. If theres no resulting buzzing sound, does it have to be the kiss of death. If the keybed is fully removed then it may work, but at that point it would have just been easier to build a piano mockup from plywood and lumber. If theres major damage to the piano, such as cracked soundboard, mould or woodworm, i would suggest that you might have great difficulty finding a buyer. A basic repair for this in an upright piano is to insert glue between the soundboard and the ribs closest to the crack and draw the soundboard back to the ribs either by screws or by some other method. In an upright piano, the sound board is a large vertical plate at the back of the instrument.