new hammers

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Nereson" <dnereson@dimensional.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: August 17, 2001 12:40 AM
Subject: new hammers


> ....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.

I surely do hope your client is not going to hold you responsible for the
damage done to the hammers on his piano. In the end you'll find that the
soundboard will have to be replaced along with another set of real piano
hammers.

The question that comes to mind--as I read through all of this--is: when
does the object on which we're working cease to be a piano and become
something else. I realize you have to work with the customer who, for many
reasons, doesn't want to acknowledge that his piano needs major surgery.
(Some folks are like that about their bodies as well.) But at some point the
tone of these things stops being 'pianoforte' and becomes something quite
artificial. And the instrument can no longer be reasonably called a
pianoforte. Perhaps what we need to do is add a college class in Piano Tone
Appreciation to go along with the ubiquitous Music Appreciation class.

Of course then even more potential piano buyers would realize that much of
what is being presented today as pianos really aren't and that wouldn't be
good for what little of the business remains.

Still, is it possible that your client would be better off with an
electronic keyboard of some kind. It probably would sound better than the
pseudo-piano he's trying to come up with.

With, perhaps, a bit more Sunday Morning cynicism than is really
warranted...

Regards,

Del