Lightly stressed soundboard

The envied textural clarity as well as pitch clarity these pre-modern pianos possess are produced by low compression, low stress soundboards, with minimal crown and minimal board loading. Modern soundboards, on the other hand, are high compression, high stress assemblies. If a modern high compression soundboard is placed in a pre-modern instrument, the pre-modern shell will produce the explosive impact and piercing projection of a modern piano, lose the textural clarity and have too much treble sustain. Since the vast majority of current shops only build high compression modern soundboards, most attempts at rebuilding pre-1900 Chickerings or other pre-modern instruments end up sounding like unsatisfying imitations of a modern piano. A pre-modern piano is not a modern piano. It must be treated as such to elicit the pre-modern piano’s unique aesthetic results.