Cracked soundboard in a piano

This is a more expensive repair depending on how big your piano is and how many cracks need repair. I havent had any issues with cracking at the repair site. When a piano develops cracks from old age, the cracks can cause buzzes. Swelling and shrinking of the pianos soundboard is the most immediate and noticeable effect of humidity change. He received his piano tuning and repair diploma from the piano technician academy. The effect is to widen the crack as far as acoustics are concerned. Sadly, the cracked soundboard ploy has generated countless dollars for unscrupulous piano technicians over the years that use it as a scare tactic for financial gain. Strings also stress the pinblock which has to be replaced when it wont stay in tune. You also have to take into account that the results you have after replacing the soundboard might be dramatically different than the original piano. Depending on where the crack is, the piano technician will usually have to loosen the tension on the strings directly over the crack to access the affected soundboard area. This is usually the result of changes in the relative humidity that has caused the pieces of wood making up the assembly to expand and contract. A crack is only going to get bigger and will affect the tone and overall sound of the instrument.

So youve noticed the soundboard of your piano has a crack. After that they filled the cracks, and put the soundboard back to convex shape. 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. The sound board is the foundation of the piano, and if the soundboard is cracked, warped or distressed, the rods will not move correctly, the felts and hammers will get incorrect. In short, the climate in turkey is not kind to soundboards for the long term exposure pianos typically take. It is important to note that a cracked soundboard does not mean your piano is. When a crack develops, the spruce of the sound board warps and pulls away from the cross ribs. A lot of technicians would have opted to repair the crack.

Sometimes when the soundboard gets cracks in it, the ribs come unglued from it in places. Filling the crack with material that doesnt expand and contract like wood will generate a new crack right along side the repair. Also look on the soundboard, many of the manufacturers will include it inside one of the windows in the plate. Over the years, soundboards can crack for a variety of reasons. Soundboard repair oxford piano service piano tuning. 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. The soundboard is imperative for the projection of any piano. This is very common in older pianos and sometimes causes buzzing on specific notes. The shop i worked in charged 250 and then 50 per inch of crack to be repaired. How to check your piano sound board the heart and soul of your piano is its soundboard. To me, the rim is the soul and the soundboard is the heart.

Im not a technician, but a search for cracked soundboard will show you that many discussions have been had about whether a cracked board will. Whether you have a grand piano or an upright piano, fixing cracks is one of the most common soundboard repairs. These are much more likely to leave the piano untunable. Many cracked soundboards can be easily repaired, but unless there are other problems with the board, these repairs are usually cosmetic. Nominally, if the piano is worth it the scant information above, i would judge no, you remove the plate, widen the crack to a vshape, insert and glue a vshaped spruce strip and scrape not sand the repair level. Do cracks in a pianos soundboard mean the end of its life.

All who heard the piano gave kind comments on the sound, so it worked. Usually the piano involved is older than your g2, and ribs have separated from the soundboard adjacent to the crack these must be reglued. Soundboard cracks demystified south jersey piano service. 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.

His voicing of the hammers made all the difference in containing the large sound of a concert instrument without losing the vibrancy of a live performance. A piano with a cracked soundboard should be carefully checked for rib separations before purchase. Piano restoration costs piano restoration pricing guide 2019. Contrary to what the name implies, it is not one board, but several planked together, much like a hardwood floor. This can result in cracks and loose soundboard ribs. 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. The soundboard in any piano is exposed to humidity and other environmental swings during its lifetime. 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. Graymarket pianos and cracked soundboards pianobuyer. Very extensive cracking, however, can indicate that the piano has suffered great climatic extremes, and that its life expectancy may be short.

When the soundboard looses a lot of moisture or absorbs and. 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. This is an example of a significant crack in the soundboard of a small baby grand piano. What is a sound board how to check your piano sound board. The soundboard is what allows the piano to project its sound. Because the distance strings to soundboard and the tension inside the soundboard is of importance. Would sound get affected because of cracked sound board. Repairing or replacing a pianos soundboard bradfield piano. A cracked soundboard the thin board stretched across the frame of a piano whose role is to amplify sound seems to be everyones greatest fear. During restauration, they dried the piano down to 20 percent humidity, so that even some more cracks occured during that. Most soundboards have cracks within a few years after manufacture you just dont see them yet. I found one that was particularly interesting regarding my needs and my budget seiler ed2, i tried it and was pretty satisfied but not sure enough. The easiest way to put it is that a crack in a soundboard is a symptom, but not the disease. Campbell piano shop has kept the bechstein concert grand we use for the classically alive music series in top shape for the many artist we have heard.

The soundboard, a sheet of wood approximately 38 of an inch thick, is made with a slightly crowned shape. When purchasing a piano check as much of the soundboard as you can see carefully for cracks. One method for repairing cracks in a soundboard requires inserting a shim of wood into the cracked board. Pianos in churches or concert halls that have the heat or air conditioning turned down or off during the week suffer the most from tuning stability. Nearly all piano soundboards are made of thin planks of spruce glued together. But before we go any further we must be sure we all know where and what is a soundboard and why it cracks. 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. When a soundboard cracks, the most effective repair involves cutting out the crack and planking in a fresh piece of spruce. Then he will take a specially shaped chisel and widen the crack so that a wooden. Contrary to popular belief, cracks in the soundboard, while often unattractive, are not necessarily important, as long as the tone is acceptable. When a crack is larger and causes the wood to warp, the sound quality will be affected significantly, and you will likely want to repair the damage. There is a crack in my piano s sound board, caused, i believe, by being stored in an arid place.

However, in many cases cracked soundboards go unnoticed because it usually does not influence the sound. A crack in the soundboard means my piano is ruined. If a piano is well protected from vermin and humidity, there is no reason an elder piano cannot be refurbished to have better sound and tone than it did when new. A piano s soundboard is one of the most important pieces on a piano. This can allow the soundboard to rattle against the loose rib as it vibrates. It can be sealed to stop the buzzing, but to cosmetically repair, the strings must be removed and the crack must be shimmed and relacquered. 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. To locate the serial number on a grand piano, take the music desk off. As a piano ages, its soundboard dries out and often develops small cracks along the lines of the wood grain. The ribs run perpendicular to the grain of the soundboard, and therefore perpendicular to any cracks.

While soundboard cracks are obviously undesirable, and in some cases can cause serious problems. Any separation of a rib from the soundboard at a crack is a potential source of buzzing noises. At the age of 10 he accomplished his goal of playing it in recital. 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. Years of vibration and climate changes can cause the soundboard s pieces to split at the seams. The common thought is the soundboard is not repairable when damaged but on the contrary can be fixed in most situations. Piano restoration oxford piano service piano tuning. The soundboard is one of the most essential parts of your piano. The sound board is a five eighths inch thick wooden board in the back of the piano. This can sound like a speaker distorting when it is played too loudly. If there is a distinct buzz when notes are struck quite firmly, this can also be an indication of a cracked soundboard.

The strings pass over the soundboard and are connected to it by a wooden piece called a bridge. In fact, this scare tactic is often used by piano dealers to discourage restoration and preservation so that they can sell a new piano to the unsuspecting client. A a piano that has not been regularly maintained can become so out of tune that it is not possible to bring back to its original condition in a single tuning. While a crack in the soundboard can be a problem such as when the panel comes unglued from the ribs. In fact many, if not most, pianos will eventually develop some cracking in their soundboards. If the crack is loose on the ribs, it may buzz, but there is a repair for this as well. 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. The alternate absorption and evaporation of moisture affects the soundboard, and therefore the tone of the piano, to a far greater degree than any crack or accumulation of cracks, yet few persons complain of this or even appear to notice it. Perhaps it looks less like a smooth, machined piece of. A cracked harp plate is an important issue, but in most cases can be remedied by new technologies in welding and mending. Meanwhile the customer is out the money and the soundboard is still compromised. Soundboards vary in size depending on how large the piano is.

A soundboard of a grand piano has a vast amount of. And just like a human heart, the soundboard of a steinway can be replaced by another one, but the essence of the piano s soul remains, and so does its indelible identity as a piano from whichever vintage or decade it came. A cracked pinblock can be replaced, and a cracked soundboard can certainly be repaired or replaced. I inherited the piano and want to keep it in good shape and fix up the major problems. On the back of it, it has one inch ribs which stabilize it by running against the grain of the sound board. For a piano that is so out of tune, the strings have to be stretched so far that they will spring back so much that is goes back out of tune. Usually, cracks in a piano s soundboard does not mean the end of its life. Sometimes, a piano can function normally even with a cracked soundboard. How costly is it to fixed a cracked sound board in a piano. Soundboard cracks are a major operation if you do it properly you need to take off the strings and often its easier and cheaper to replace the soundboard. Smaller cracks may not impact your piano s sound enough to warrant repair. If there is something wrong here, that has a much more influence on the sound. Piano soundboard cracks and pressure ridges, the difference. Ive never done this repair on its own its always been part of a restringing.

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. 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. Also, the crack is much bigger than it would appear. The case against repairing piano soundboard cracks part 1. The significance of soundboard cracks on pianos youtube. Unless you hear strange noises, you might not need to repair a cracked soundboard. But in the early 1900s, steinway and sons introduced their diaphragmatic soundboards. Welcome to estey piano piano rebuilding services piano. He stays uptodate on all things piano by being an active member of the piano technicians guild the song chariots of fire inspired andrew to begin piano lessons.