String Levelling guest ions

[JIMRPT]

In a message dated 4/5/98 9:37:10 PM, woodroj@syvax.email.dupont.com wrote:

<< "I would
appreciate your thoughts on causes and remedies of 'percussive' hammers.">>

John;
 You don't believe in easy ones huh? :-), OK.
causes of percussive hammers: (my opinion)
1. Hard hammer.
2. Poor strike point.
3. Hard hammer.
4. Misshapen hammer.
5. Hard hammer.
6. Slight blocking.
7. Hard hammer.
8. Poor soundboard.
9. Hard hammer.
10. Excessive downbearing on bridge.
11. (you fill it in :-)
 There are more causes of percussivness but these should cover the most
common.
 You probably noticed that I think most percusiveness comes from hard hammers,
huh?  By "hard hammer" I don't needfully mean the crown, or top layers, but
usually the core. Remedies: needles, steam, alcohol, acetone, fabric softener.
I am perfectly comfortable with needles but there are others who are just as
comfortable with the other answers and that is OK , they all work.  On a S&S
'D' recently  (mid 80's model) there was an excessive amount of percusiveness
in the area you have asked about and the owner wanted to keep the "brilliance"
but lose the "knocking sound". Hammer strike point was alright as were all the
other factors, so I used a single needle from the side between the crown and
moulding which solved 90% of the "knocking".  Customer was happy, so I left it
at that.
  One can't get rid of all the percussive noise, because pianos work by
percussion, but you can make it 'almost' transparent with a little effort,
using your favorite method.  Del has some definite thoughts on hammers and
their relative hardness and softness. I suggest you go to the archives and
pull the posts on a thread called S&S Hammers, if I'm not mistaken, and read
what Del and numerous others had to say vis a vis hammers and their qualities.
 Passing thought.... have you checked the glide bolt in that area? Sometimes
the slight knocking of a single maladjusted glide bolt will be perceived as a
"percussive problem".

  Glad to hear that you have already had the opportunity to try "leveling" and
see its' effect.  As you get more comfortable with it you will find that it is
a most useful inclusion in your tool kit.
Jim Bryant (FL)