Following on from Dan Wilson's note (MMD 981125) about Steck pianos
-- I took delivery of my new (to me) Steck grand last week.  It was
built in the German Gotha factory, ex-Ernst Munck, and precise rela-
tionship of its designs to the American George Steck pianos has never
been determined.

Anyway, its previous owner told me that when the tuner last visited
(after a six month gap) he refused to touch it, because the tuning
was still spot on.  One up to Steck there!

Like all Gotha Stecks, this piano is built like a tank.  It has a
_cast iron_ keybed, and took a great deal of moving!  Even the legs
have cast iron plates in them.

What intrigues me about this piano is that the planks of the soundboard
run side to side parallel with the keyboard, with the ribs going from
front to back.  Every other grand piano I recall looking at has a
soundboard constructed diagonally across the piano.  The whole thing is
very robustly made, with the boards screwed down onto the ribs, the
screws showing on the top of the board.  I would welcome any feedback
from piano techs out there about this style of construction.

Julian Dyer