Hammer weight

[DAVander@aol.com]

>Usually there is one or two "Gurus" who appear to have all the >answers.
 They answer the questions without giving the reasons or >documentary support
for their beliefs.   We are simply expected to >believe in their wisdom
because they have researched  it for >themselves.
>
>Michael Wathen

Michael,

I appreciate your input on the pianotech list.  I, along with many others
would be glad to see you publish your studies on the behaviour of piano wire
vibrations that you mentioned in another posting.

As far as "Guru's" go,  I don't believe that any of the people here claim to
have all of the answers.  Many of them have come to their own conclusions
because of the varied experiences they have had along with the knowledge they
have accumulated.  Much of what has been posted here about Hammer
Weight/Touch Weight , Action Geometry, and related items, are conclusions
that have been reached by the authors based on experimentation and much
thought and study.

We are not expected to simply believe in their wisdom because they have
researched it for themselves.  We are free to choose to believe what we will.
 If you disagree with what is being explained here, you are not forced to
believe it.  You can come up with your own ideas and explain them here for
our benefit if you wish.

Ideally, if we had the same amount of knowledge and the same experiences, we
might reach the same conclusions.  Or, maybe not.  The beauty of this
internet discussion group is that we are free to agree or disagree as the
case may be.  References from previously published materials are helpful if
they can be used, but much of what is being discussed here is virgin
territory.  There may not be a lot of references that can be used to back up
a particular theory or hypothesis, because the references just may not exist.


If you think about it, the research by some of the people that is posted here
will probably end up being published in the future, and then will be the
standard reference works that people will use to quote from.  Because this
information hasn't existed before,  some  of the hypotheses may need to be
"tweaked" and "honed" before they are in final form.

But in the meantime, does that make this information invalid and useless?  If
you have other ideas that you think explain and describe the mysteries of the
inner workings of the piano better or in more detail, please post them here.
 That is what this discussion group is for.

I personally don't understand all of what is being discussed, but I am saving
it for future reference, for a time when I may have the knowledge necessary
to grasp the concepts being discussed.

(I also enjoyed the postings on this subject by Stephen Birkett and Israel
Stein.)

Sincerely,
David A. Vanderhoofven
Joplin, MO
Associate Member, Kansas City Chapter PTG
davander@aol.com

P.S.  The only "Guru" that I know of here is Frank Emerson, Director of Piano
R & D at the Baldwin Piano & Organ Co.  He calls himself "PianoGuru" as the
name he uses to get e-mail.  I think that it is rather fitting as well as
being humorous.  I feel sure that he was not claiming to have all the answers
in this field when he chose that name.  But with all of the years of research
he has, he might be pretty close!