John Tuttle wrote:

> It's also doubtful that the piano weighs in excess of 1000 pounds.
> Even the Lauter "cement" piano weighed less than a ton, and a new
> 9-foot Steinway Concert grand weighs 'only' 900 pounds.

Okay, I give!  What on earth was the Lauter 'cement' piano?  I know
that a concrete canoe can float (it's a perennial engineering school
activity) and that loudspeakers can be obtained in concrete cabinets
(acoustically desirable because they're utterly soundproof) but why
a 'cement' piano?

This sounds like the sort of trivia that I devour with gusto and then
recycle endlessly.

Mark Kinsler

 [ Bill Mintz restored a George Steck upright of 1900 that has
 [ a second cast iron plate bolted on the rear of the wood frame.
 [ We guessed that the added mass would reduce the vibration of
 [ case and so might account for the exceptional power and nice
 [ tone.  Bill said the movers declared it a "cement piano"!
 [ -- Robbie