[CAUT] Ronsen-Wurzen hammers

[David Love]

Ronsen hammers almost always require a good filing and polishing and can't
really be used out of the box without that.  Sometimes they are a little
bulky in the upper end and I end of taking off quite a bit of felt to get
down the optimum thickness over the core of the hammer in that section.
That goes both for Wurzen and Bacon.  I've put several sets on performance
pianos (small halls) without lacquer and had the pianists love them.
Ultimately, since I do everything custom depending on what the customer
wants, treatment of the hammers and the ultimate voice of the piano will
vary, sometimes considerably.  I don't impose my tastes on people.  I've had
customers who want the Bacon felt (softer) hammer voiced down and others for
whom the Ronsen would be a bad choice.  That's the whole point of choosing
various hammers depending on a variety of factors not the least of which is
customer preference.  Recently, I rebuilt a Steinway for someone who really
liked the sound of Renner Blues.  That's what they got.  At the same time I
had someone who desperately wanted the Renners removed from their piano in
favor of a softer Ronsen Bacon felt hammer.  That set has never had lacquer
added and every time I go there he asks me to voice it down.  In spite of
Breckne's global perception about the waning interest in warmer and darker
tone, my experiences are just the opposite, performance pianos aside.  More
people are eschewing the Yamaha model of power and brightness, attack and
percussion for warm expressiveness.  Not everyone, but more and more, that's
what people are asking for.  


David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 
www.davidlovepianos.com



    I've put a number of sets of Ronsen Wurtzen hammers on and I like them
    for our practice rooms but I've had an experience similar to Alan's.
    Without lacquer they seem to be missing something at all volumes, even
    for a practice room. At the minimum I'll soak them from the mid-tenor on
    up and often soak the whole set. You have to needle them back down after
    doing this of course but they then have a good strong core for a wider
    dynamic range. They sound nice after doing this plus I've found that if
    hammers are voiced too soft the kids just pound harder to get tone out
    of the piano. From my experience I can't imagine using these hammers
    "straight out of the box". That being said, I still like them a lot
    though I wouldn't put them on a performance piano.

    Eric