A first timer; a lurker for awhile now. Recently I tuned an old Kranich & Bach upright (serial #32169). It was interesting to me in that it had red hammers. Having never seen such, it caught my attention. I am wondering if anyone can shed any light on this as to how many makers put red hammers in their pianos and why. The felt was clearly red before the hammer was made. Secondly, after several years of using an acetone and plastic key mixture to harden hammers, I've decided to try acetone and sanding sealer. Anyone have a particular brand and strength they like? Also, will this solution cause any problems on a hammer that has the plastic hardener? My problem is a set of "genuine" Steinway hammers I put on a D several years ago. From the beginning they were absolutely mush--you couldn't hear it across the room. I have learned a lot about voicing on this set of hammers. After several years, I have it sounding quite nice (over the stated objections from the piano faculty about using hardener of any kind--they thought we should just play it in ((yea, sure. Then how come they were always complaining about how dead the piano was))). While it sounds pretty good now, it still isn't quite perfect. A few notes are still a little dull when playing forte and louder. I will be filing soon and want something else to use to even things out and perhaps finally getting that last degree of tone quality that I know is there. Ideas anyone? Thanks Bill Stratton RPT Willamette University Salem, Or --- * SLMR 2.1a *
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