new hammers

[Dave Nereson]

Now you did it!  You went and opened this can of worms again!  :)
> > You may not assume that weight, power and brightness are the same or are
> directly coupled to each other.
> > First search the archives at http://www.ptg.org/archive/pianotech.php/
>  and search for heavy hammers.
> > Also read Bill Ballard's post of know how and peripheral issues.
> > You need to think this through, consider the problems that abound and
explain
> what and why you need something different than is there.  What piano, what
> venue, what bore specs, what hammer weights, what key weights.  There are
a lot
> of issues that have to be taken into account when you replace hammers on
any
> piano.
> > If all you want is brightness then use Ronson's and dope the hammers
with
> lacquer and wait three weeks between applications.  Bear in mind that once
you
> have overloaded the hammers it is a real problem getting them back down.
> > So I would use the best quality hammer I can get, Abel, Isaac, Renner,
finely
> regulate the action, level strings and do some minor voicing and wait a
year.
> The hammers you put on will NOT be the same in a year, they tend to open
up.
> > If this is a performance piano you really _really_ have to do it right
and know
> what you are doing as you do it.
> > Super hard hammers break strings.> > Lots of luck.> > Newton

That's what I thought, have been thinking, and knew intuitively and from
experience, but I have an over-zealous customer who's convinced that
something can be done to this 1908 Steinway B with the weak section in the
6th octave, plus no crown, & several cracks that have been shimmed.  I
copied and printed some of the posts from Del and others about its being a
soundboard problem and that no amount of lacquering, etc. will fix it.  I
did lacquer a bit on the shoulders, but no great change.  We even tried the
valve springs pushing up on a hardwood slat across a couple ribs in that
area -- no change.
    I took 4 adjacent hammers from the same set (off an old piano, but they
were in decent shape).  One I just lightly filed, nothing else.  To #2 I
applied a little lacquer on the shoulders.  #3 I soaked the whole hammer
except the strike point with lacquer.  And #4 I just put a little lacquer on
the strike point only. (Actually about 1:4 lacquer to thinner).  Took 4
hammers off the offending area and put the experimental ones on.  The one
that was filed only was the brightest, "glassiest".  The one with lacquer
only on the strike point was the mildest in tone.  The other two sounded
about the same (percussive & bright, but not warmer, louder, or any better
sustain).  Part of the reason the one that was filed only, with no lacquer,
was
the brightest is that there was only a sixteenth inch of felt over the tip
of the moulding whereas the new Steinway hammers that are on there have more
like 3/8".  So now the customer's convinced that filing or heavier/denser
hammers
will solve the problem. Filing them will be difficult now that they're
lacquered, plus they're already sort of pear-shaped and I'd have to remove a
lot of material to make them more egg-shaped -- so much that it will make
the hammers too light and create a "fly-away" touch.  He wants to obtain a
handful of Renners, a handful of Abels, a handful of Isaacs and try them
all.  I think it's to no avail.  So I'll review the archives, show him this
post also, and hope he quits "trying to fix the car by altering the road"
or whatever other analogy is similar.
    Thanks, Newton.  No need to respond unless you feel like it.  Sincerely,
David Nereson, RPT, Denver