Re-directed use of perfectly good Vodka!

[dporritt]

Brian:

I'm not one to advocate using softening agents on quality hammers that can
be needled.  That's silly.  The time differential between the two methods is
not that great.  I'm talking about the hammer that a needle won't
penetrate... primarily hammers that have been over doped.  Some "quality"
hammer makers anticipate that you will have to dope the hammers to make them
work.  Sometimes they get over doped.

This can happen particularly when technicians use the slower curing dopes
like lacquer.  Dope once, not enough.  Dope again, still not there.  Dope
again.  Many times this is because the first treatment has not fully cured
before a second is applied.  In this situation, when the drying has actually
finished the hammers are nothing but lacquer saturated mallets that no
longer belong in a musical instrument.  In these situations, fabric softener
can often work "miracles".

A few years ago I had a teacher who liked his piano "bright" (read
annoyingly harsh.)  He retired and his studio was then used by a piano
teacher with normal taste in sound.  One treatment on these grossly
overdoped hammers made the piano nice again.

Snuggle is not a tool for normal voicing, but a great one for the overdoped,
unneedleable hammer.

dave

_______________________________________________

David M. Porritt, RPT
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas
dporritt@swbell.net <mailto:dporritt@swbell.net>
_______________________________________________



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of BDeTar@AOL.COM
Sent: Friday, July 02, 1999 10:15 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Re-directed use of perfectly good Vodka!


Please excuse any redundant redundancy if someone has already posted
something similar, but PLEASE, PLEASE, use caution when using ANY kind of
softening agent on quality hammers.  I am currently replacing a set on a
piano that the owner had used Vodka on.  This after a conversation with a
sales person who heard about it from another tech.  With the money I'll
make,
I plan to buy a bottle of good Scotch (to drink)!

Using liquid softeners instead of judicious needling, is kind of like
playing
the piano with boxing gloves.  You play a lot of notes, and to some, it
sounds good, but it's kinda hard to articulate!  I realize that what is
trying to be accomplished is to maximize the effect in the minimum amount of
time, but some things can't be rushed.  Softening agents DO work great on
those practice room pianos that get played constantly yet receive little or
no maintenance.

Just my humble opinion...

Brian De Tar
Positively DeFined
BDeTar@aol.com

			MEDIOCRITY IS CUMULATIVE,
				SO IS EXCELLENCE!  bd