[CAUT] Weights vs Riblets in an S&S D

[Douglas Wood]

Have you tried a heavy guitar pick on these notes? If you can get  
more with the pick than with the hammers, then the hammers probably  
need work or replacement (and much work). IMHO, the results available  
with the NY Steinway hammers are more colorful than anything else,  
but you must  know how to develop and control tone--it's different  
from any other hammers I work on, and quite demanding on a D (like  
everything else on a D!). If you are more familiar with other  
hammers, the Hamburg hammer might work better for you, as the voicing  
methods are more like the other hammers' methods.

Doug Wood


On Jul 29, 2007, at 9:19 AM, Andrew Anderson wrote:

> Listmembers,
> Some questions in response to the journal article; practical  
> application.
>
> I service an S&S D where we are really unsatisfied with the mid to  
> upper treble killer octaves.  I describe the sound a fuzzy.  The  
> upper partials clash and do not settle into a clear ringing tone.   
> The high treble is fine.  This is the kind of sound you get from  
> cheap chinese grands when you try to play them loud--distortion.   
> Problem is it happens at all dynamic levels.  Needling hasn't  
> helped, shellac got us back some power but the sound still fritzes  
> and fuzzes on us.  The Steinway Artist I was working with voted for  
> replacement with Hamburg hammers (I'll second that one).  I was  
> thinking about swapping in different hammers to check if it is the  
> hammers but with this article I wonder about other solutions.  This  
> four going on five year old S&S D has other issues but tonally we  
> are experiencing a weaker, unresolved tone in this area.
>
> Would the use of riblets improve this situation?  I clamped a small  
> grip on a bridge-pin and did not notice a difference here and so  
> didn't explore soundboard impedance any further.  Perhaps stiffness  
> and reducing the resonant frequency a little would help?
>
> Comments?
>
> Andrew Anderson at TAMIU

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