Pianos, guitars, banjos, and many other stringed instruments incorporate soundboards. Next Blog topic: How Swiss Tonewood is selected and harvested.A sound board, or soundboard, is the surface of a string instrument that the strings vibrate against, usually via some sort of bridge. From selecting to felling, sawing and drying – they’ve honed the craft to find the perfect Tonewood for the job. Additionally, our supplier of the European Spruce is an all-in-one business. Our soundboards produce a rich resonance and beautiful tonal quality that we find superior to other species of the Spruce tree. Our preference for European Spruce lies not only with the superior workability, but also with the finished product. Concert Grand – Soundboard Glued and Drying European Spruce has a finer grain, no resin pockets or smell when cut and is easy to handle with the blade. It has a distinct smell when cut and tends to be stringy. Sitka Spruce tends to have more resin pockets, and therefore can leave behind residue on saw blades used to cut the wood. Having used both Sitka and European Spruce in making soundboards at the RPI Restoration Center, we have noticed a difference in both quality and ease in workmanship. Sitka Spruce is typically grown at 2000 ft above sea level.
In the native habitat, the European Spruce are grown at altitudes of 4000 – 6500 ft above sea level.
Largely sourced from the Swiss Alps, the high elevation and long winters cause the growing season of these trees to be much shorter than that of Sitka Spruce, which is grown in the more temperate climates of the North American coast. Soundboard with Bridge Pattern – Ready To Set and Glue the Bridge Also discovered by specialty guitar makers and other stringed instrument enthusiasts, this wood has proven to be of superior quality for a variety of reasons. Because of the current ease of importing, this wood is available to instrument makers looking for the best wood for the heart of the piano. While there are a variety of species of Spruce tree in Europe, one in particular stands out to have superior tonal sound qualities.Įuropean Spruce Picea Abies – produces a beautiful light grade-A fine grain wood with very little sap or resin pockets and has the required high strength to weight ratio. European piano manufacturers’ use wood from Spruce trees for their soundboards too, though from species available in their part of the world. Why Sitka? Because it is readily available. Sitka Spruce has since become the wood used in top quality pianos made in the USA, as well as other stringed instruments. Steinway Concert Grand – New Soundboard, Pinblock, Strings and Tuning Pins This tall tree is known for its high strength to weight ratio and has good flexibility – a must for a board that is meant to amplify and resonate with the vibration of a steel wire. Pianos made in the USA typically used Sitka Spruce Picea Sitchensis – which is a coastal tree that grows in North America. Back in the heyday of piano manufacturing, depending on where the piano was made, the wood was sourced from a nearby mill using local wood to serve the purposes of the various parts of the piano. The piano, being mostly made of wood, is a complex engineering feat that mixes various woods: maple, beech, birch, spruce, and a veneer on top of the case and parts. Soundboard – Bridges and Ribs Installed (Upside Down) Aptly named, the piano soundboard is a big deal.
So big, in fact, that the material it is made out of is commonly featured as a crucial element to the piano’s value. Aptly named, the soundboard is a big deal. While the mechanisms that make the key hit the string are still operational, the sound is affected. With a damaged soundboard, will the piano still play? Yes.
PIANO SOUNDBOARD CRACKED
It is often said that the soundboard is the heart of the piano – the part of a piano that if damaged, cracked or with a fallen crown can change the whole experience of the pianist and the listener.