Price Categories
| Upright $3,000 - $6,000 |
| Upright $7,500 - $15,000 |
| Upright $25,000 - $55,000 |
| Grand $10,000 - $20,000 |
| Grand $25,000 - $50,000 |
| Grand $80,000 - $250,000 |
|
|
Wertheim Technical Information |
|
|
|
The piano was invented around 1709 in Italy by Bartolomeo Christofori.
Its design was based on the instrument of the day, the harpsichord. The
harpsichord, having no sensitivity to touch, tone or volume, led
Christofori to devise a hammer action to give both soft and loud sounds
depending on the touch of the player, hence the name Pianoforte - this
means 'soft' and 'loud' in Italian. The piano underwent many
refinements over many years to become what it is today.
The Soundboard
The soundboard is the speaker of the piano. It is generally made of
Spruce, the best being Alaskan Sitka Spruce. The soundboard can be a
solid sheet or laminated. Laminated soundboards have thin sheets
layered at 90 degree angles that are glued under pressure.
Lower quality instruments have laminated soundboards. The sound
production is fundamentally flawed by a laminated soundboard. Sound
travels 3-4 times faster along the grain than it does across the grain.
Sound in a laminated soundboard is smeared in all directions, resulting
in a thinner, shorter sounding note particularly noticeable in the
middle and treble range. The sound of a piano with a laminated
soundboard will not improve with age as does a solid soundboard.
Wertheim Pianos feature solid Alaskan Sitka Spruce soundboards.
The size of the piano (height in an upright, length in a grand) has a
direct relationship to the volume and tone that the soundboard can
produce. The bigger the soundboard, the bigger the sound. A 9ft concert
grand has remarkable volume and tonal output. The soundboard has ribs
and these ribs keep the soundboard rigit in a slight curve or 'crown'
to give you the ultimate tone and sustain.
Iron Frame
The frame serves 3 purposes.
- Strength against the collapse of 25 tons of pressure from the strings.
- Keeping the tuning pins in place over the life of the piano (possibly 100 years).
- Setting the scale or intonation of the strings.
The Bridge
The bridge transfers the vibrations of the strings to the soundboard.
The bridge is made of hardwood such as Beech. The bridge is attached to
the soundboard running along the soundboard in an S shape. Older pianos
can have split bridges creating false harmonics, rattles and other
sounds. A split bridge can be very expensive to repair.
The Strings
Wertheim strings are made from German high grade steel with the bass
strings covered in up to 2 wound layers of copper wire. Each note of a
piano can be made up of three strings all tuned to the same pitch for
the upper and middle register. The bass notes comprise of one string
for lower bass and two strings for the upper bass.
When tuned to standard pitch A440, the tension results in up to 25-ton
of string tension. This pressure is supported by the iron frame.
There are two ways strings are strung on a piano:
- Vertical strung (older pianos).
- Over or cross strung (bass string crossig over treble strings and vice versa).
Over strung pianos offer a longer string length given the actual height
of the piano. The longer the string, the greater its ability of tone
production transferred to the soundboard.
Back Posts
The posts situated at the back of the piano compliment the structural
integrity of the iron frame. Wertheim 121cm and 131cm upright pianos
have 5 back posts. Modern manufacturing techniques in the casting of an
iron frame and designs that extend the perimeter of the piano mean that
the back posts are not required in smaller 110cm pianos.
Pin Block
The pin block is made of laminated hard woods. This provides a secure
and waterproof material for the tuning pins to be locked into while
remaining loose enough for the pins to be rotated for tuning. Wertheim
pianos are constructed using hardwood laminations for maximum tuning
stability.
The Action
The piano is a percussion instrument because the strings are struck
with a hammer. The mechanism that accomplishes this task is known as
the 'action'.
The action is the sophisticated mechanism that transfers the energy in
the touch of the pianist pressing the keys to the string via a system
of levers and a hammer. The action of a grand piano has its hammers
balanced to gravity, those of an upright piano have tabs and springs to
pull the hammer back. This fact enables the grand to achieve a superior
performance particularly when repetition is concerned.
The regulating and maintenance of the action is critical to the
performance standards a piano is capable of. Wertheim Pianos receive
careful tuning, regulation and voicing to provide the ultimate
satisfaction.
The Dampers
The dampers control the ability of a string to vibrate. It is controlled in two ways:
- By the action: when a key is pressed, the damper releases.
- When the damper pedal is pressed.
There are two types of
dampers. Over damper (an older design) and under damper (modern
design). The over damper is not effective at damping the string because
the damper sits close to the end of the string above the hammer
resulting in a lot of ringing and overtones. This is particularly
noticeable when playing staccato music. All Wertheim pianos encompass
the under damper design.
All these features are important for you to understand in the purchase
of a Wertheim piano so that you cna make a wise, well-informed
decision. You should compare the different models of Wertheim pianos of
different heights by playing octave arpeggios in the ky of C in both
the bass register and treble, noting the sound quality, depth and
volume of each. |
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 11 March 2010 )
|
|