The soundboard of your piano couples the vibrating strings to a larger mass of air enabling the sound to be heard in a much larger area. Its design, construction, and installation will also impact the character and color of the sound. By utilizing the spring like nature of the wood cells, the designer creates an instrument that has the sustain and character of tone desired. The soundboard is placed in a crowned position that places the string and soundboard in contention. This contention is what has to be controlled in order to create a beautiful sounding instrument.
As time passes, wood will take on a memory of the crowned position known as compression set. It causes the soundboard to loose its capacity to spring back against the string. It is important to understand that this condition can occur in a fairly new instrument as well as those who have already had a long life. To date, there is no scientific way to predict when this will occur making it difficult to diagnose. When a soundboard’s response deteriorates, the best answer is to replace the soundboard. However, not every piano will be a candidate for this operation. Contact Campbell Piano Shop at +1 719 351-2766 and let us help you evaluate your instrument to determine if this process is the right answer.