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Vol. 86 July 18, 2026 No. 19

Jacob Goll

experimenter soundboard innovator

Biography

Jacob Goll of Vienna is cited by Dolge as one of the earliest experimenters seeking to improve the soundboard, having used iron and copper in place of wood in 1823 with reasonable success. Dolge suggests that the primitive state of the metal industries at the time likely made metal too costly compared to wood, which may explain why the approach was not more widely adopted.

Highlights

  • Of Vienna; experimented with iron and copper soundboards in 1823, with reasonable success

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911).

Public domain.

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