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A guitar in the home makes a silent statement, but a great piano is considered the greatest in elegance. When given a selection between a great piano and a straight an artist will usually choose the grand piano. Why, you might ask is the grand piano so much more desirable when compared to a vertical piano. Herein we’ll cover some frequently asked questions that will help you choose the proper piano for the purposes.
First all pianos aren’t created equal. A good quality vertical piano surpasses a cheaply built grand piano. Grand pianos range in price from $4,995 upward to over $170,000. Why is the more expensive pianos better? Quality of materials, aging of woods and quality of craftsmanship to craft them. The additional time the manufacturer takes to construct a piano and the higher felt, leather and woods used will translate to a piano that’s effective at projecting sound efficiently and also better tone.
A piano’s action (the mechanism that propels the hammers once the keys are struck) is quite intricate. The action has thousands of parts, which are adjusted and developed to very fine tolerances. One key that has a slight variance in its action may cause that key to perform differently, affecting the proficiency of ones touch and musical dynamics. Better felts won’t wear as quickly as those in cheaply made felt/leather. Further, higher quality woods found in the action will contract and expand causing alignment problems and again affecting one’s dynamic control.
Keys found in a piano should really be made of quality wood, such as for example spruce, basswood AND utilize key buttons, which helps give the main element stability and prevents excessive wear.
Tuning stability is vital to the entire tone of the piano. The pin block, the multi-laminate plank of wood where in actuality the tuning pins reside should be created using premium woods so torque on the pins is enough to withstand the over 20 tons or string tension. Some pin blocks use a few, very thin laminates that aren’t going to carry as well as one that has multiple laminates. jazz piano Hard rock maple is the absolute most accepted pin block by major manufacturers as one that’ll, within the long run maintain tight pins, helping to steadfastly keep up good tuning stability.
The soundboard is the diagraph that, once the strings are stretched throughout the bridges oppose the strings tension, thereby amplifying the strings vibrations. High quality bridges and soundboards are a must to again produce quality tone. Soundboards can be either laminated or solid. A Sitka spruce is regarded as being the very best wood for soundboards in pianos, guitars, violins and other acoustic instruments.
A good soundboard surpasses a laminated. Soundboard are manufactured with edge-glued planks of spruce wood to make a large diaphragm, and then cut to suit the piano’s perimeter. The solid soundboard is more flexible than that of a laminated board, (kind of just like a sandwich of three items of spruce and other wood). The tone of a laminated board tends to really have a brittle sound whereas the solid board features a more responsive tone that’s a lot more pleasing.
An old wives tale about cracked soundboards is just that….a wives tale. A soundboard that has a break, first in virtually all cases can be repaired, IF the tone is even affected by the crack. I’ve tuned numerous pianos that give no indication of a problem. Now, if the ribs, (on the backside of the soundboard which helps maintain the crown or much like a drum head) have separated from the soundboard, there can be a buzz, or weak tone. But again that’s easily repaired. We repair soundboards/rib frequently. So, if a piano you’re considering features a “bad soundboard” or a “cracked soundboard” let a qualified piano tuner-technician examine the piano for you. Chances are the piano is just fine.
Another note about soundboards….a grand piano that’s say 60-90 years of age could have a soundboard that has lost its crown. If the piano is a quality piano, such as a Steinway & Sons, Baldwin, Mason & Hamlin, Bosendorfer and other quality piano, it’s worth replacing the soundboard and restringing once the piano will be restored. A Steinway piano today that’s rebuilt with a new soundboard can bring from $22,000-90,000 with regards to the size of the piano.
So what sort of piano should you buy; a console, studio, spinet or grand piano? This will depend on how it is going to be used. Will the piano be played in the home, at college, a church? Each application will place varying demands on the instrument. A guitar that’s made cheaply won’t last nearly so long in a college since it will in a home. The size of the grand piano needs to be considered. The longer the piano, the more volume and better tone quality it will produce. A guitar that’s too small for a church is going to be beat to death in an attempt to create out more volume for choral works, or when playing with a band. So the length of the piano, which gives larger soundboard area and longer strings is going to be best in those instances in which a smaller one is going to be just great for home or studio use.
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