I occasionally take the music shelf off of my piano when I perform for myself or a small audience here at home.

But tonight, I was doing a little work on my action with the fallboard off (as well as the music shelf).

So I decided to play an entire program on the piano like that.

WOW! It creates a great sound!

That is the very practical method to a great easy sound with a solid bass. This is a bit less practical.

So then I decided to record Bach's D major Prelude and Fugue, Book 2 (Which I will be posting sometime next week ). I took the entire lid off, as well as the music shelf and the fallboard, and put it in the middle of the room. It is amazing. It really makes it sound like a different piano.

Those strong bass notes in Beethoven sound great like this.

Give it a try!

Jim,

There were some makers that made a "bottom lid" whose only purpose was to direct the sound coming out of the bottom of the piano toward the audience.

There was also an aftermarket maker of such an item in Europe a few years ago. Neat idea, huh??

On my U5 I have it off permanently, so I use a suspension system made of hooks for music

It makes it waaay better for recording, and it's more enjoyable to listen to as well.