Hi All,

Tom Grace posed an interesting question about the best wood to use for
the base wood of a piano case.  The question is interesting because
things are always changing in the piano industry.

When I was at [QRS] Story & Clark awhile back, I was shown some new
innovative construction techniques that are unique to Story & Clark
pianos.  I wish now that I had paid a little closer attention to what
I was told, but basically they are replacing solid woods with very
dense and super strong plywoods -- I'd recognize the name if I heard it
again.  It looked an awful lot like Delignit, a multi-laminated piano
pin block material that's imported from Germany.

The housing industry is also switching to these new 'plywoods' for
beams and joists because they are so much more stable than 'real wood'.
However, having picked up a piece of the plywood material, I was
surprised by its weight.  It was heavy!

I hope this thread continues for awhile.  Although I'm certainly not an
authority on the resonant properties of a piano cabinet, I feel certain
that the density of the wood does make a difference.  It also reminds
me of the time that Lauter made a piano frame out of cement!  That was
a disaster which, as it was related to me, was a contributing factor
to the ultimate demise of the Lauter company.  I was told that it took
nine men to move one of their 'cement' grand pianos.

Musically,

John A. Tuttle