Renner parts

[Tcoates@aol.com]

I have used only Renner USA hammers, shanks, and wippens for the past 3
years.  I have put them on cheap pianos and fine instruments.  The result is
always the same.  I achieve a beautiful sound within the parameters of the
soundboard and strings.  This is not an advertisement for Renner USA.

The parts are consistent from one set to the next:  always well pinned and
trued.  This eliminates extra traveling and pinning.  The hammers are easily
pre-voiced and shaped.  The beauty of the hammers is they don't require
lacquering.  Old ways of using needles and filing are all that is needed for
final voicing.  The wippens have the same high quality and consistency as the
other parts.  The universal heel and wippen make it fit about anything.

Perhaps the wood used in these parts is more impressive.  I see pianos go
through severe climatic changes.  The hornbeam wood doesn't warp at all like
the "Genuine Steinway Parts".  I see "Genuine Steinway Parts" actions totally
out of travel when the climate changes.  The Renner parts don't change.
 Someone out there will want to suggest the hornbeam wood changes that
Steinway sound.  I've only seen an improvement in sound.

Which brings me to the sound.  I describe it as dynamic range control.  With
the properly installed and voiced Renner hammer there is a contrast from warm
and dark sounds in the p to mf range to piercing in the mf to fff range.
 ffff doesn't mean a sound itself breaks up to get projection.  Steinway
parts don't allow for the control of the overtones to get this dynamic range.

I wouldn't recommend someone installing hammers and shanks away from the
action rail.  (Renner or anyone else's mail order hammer installation
service.)  First, have they made the hammers the correct weight and
thickness?  If not, you have to remove weight from the hammer with the hammer
on the shank. (It can be done, but it's easier without the shank there.)
 Second, a really well traveled action is done before the hammers are
installed.  The less paper and burning used the more stable the installation.

My experiences have shown me that most of the time the geometry in the action
is correct and adjustable (except for Steinway).  Renner parts are pinned to
correct tolerances and usually duplicate the geometry.  After friction has
been adjusted, most of the time the problem of down/up weight can be
controlled in the hammer weight.  I use a $25 gun  reloading scale to
determine the correct weight of the hammer to meet the touch weight
guidelines. ( Each pianist seems to have different likes for light or heavy
actions.)  I designed a jig that attaches to my disk sander and I remove
weight from the hammer tail and sides to meet the touch requirements.  All
this is done before the hammer is installed.

As I said, this is not an advertisement for Renner USA.  And these are not
theories to be proved or disproved.  These are my opinions based on
experience and consultation.  My opinions change as I change.  And the only
thing constant in life is change.  Thank God for change, or else we'd all be
out of work.

Tim Coates
University of South Dakota