In a message dated 95-10-05 01:30:59 EDT, you write: >I am trying to find out some information on how other technicians create a >brighter tone on Renner hammers. The Renner literature indicates that juicing >is undesirable, yet I know many respected technicians use either lacquer, >sanding sealer, acetone/keytops, etc to extract a brighter tone. Can any one >share their experiences on brightening or hardening Renner hammers - >particularly Renner Blues? Having tried several different brands of replacement hammers, my general experience (and best results), are usually with the procedure that the particular manufacturer uses. For example, Yamaha hammers don't seem to need any doping, just a lot of needling. Steinway hammers, on the other hand, seem to respond best to building up with lacquer and then fine tuning with needling. Baldwin hammers usually get acetone and keytop material, then apply needles as necessary while Renner Blues seem to respond extremely well to the guidelines that Rick Baldassin lays out in his voicing pamphlet. I have yet to find a situation where any Blues that I have installed have needed anything beyond the prescribed needling procedure to bring out the tone. However, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of juicing if the client wanted an "extremely" brilliant tone for a recording studio or rock band. As a college tech, I prefer to stick to original replacement hammers on intitutional instruments. The main reason is that I think a Steinway should sound like a Steinway and a Baldwin should sound like a Baldwin, rather than a Baldwin w/ Steinway hammers (or any other combination that you would like to come up with.) Further, I prefer, given a choice, to stick with a tone quality somewhat representative of a particular line of instruments rather than trying to make one brand sound like another or making all brands sound the same. This gives the students the opportunity to become familiar with the different brands rather than with something that they probably aren't going to run into out there in the "real world." Of course on rebuilds where we are trying to acheive the best possible result we will use whatever seems to work the best for that particular instrument. Just my humble opinion and experiences. Allan Gilreath Gilreath Piano & Organ Co. Berry College Gilreath@aol.com
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