voicing new hammers

[Kdivad@AOL.COM]

In a message dated Mon, 12 Aug 2002 11:24:41 PM Eastern Standard Time, davidlovepianos@earthlink.net writes:

> 
> 
> The purpose of my post was to point out that there is a baseline for
> preparing hammers that transcends taste.  Perhaps that is sticking my neck
> out in times where relativism seems to reign supreme, but I'm not afraid to
> make a value judgment here.  Beyond that baseline preparation there is still
> a lot of room for individual taste.  My overall opinion is that comes mostly
> in the area of attack.
> 
> When I said I could see no reason for leaving a Renner/Abel hammer
> unresilient I am making a conjecture, in this case, that the person who said
> to leave them alone was probably not responding to the lack of resilience of
> the hammer (if it was unresilient, I don't really know what condition that
> set of hammers was in), but the improvement over what had been on there
> before.  Since I prevoice those types of hammer before I put them on, it's
> not an issue for me.  All hammers of that type get some voicing.  And all of
> them benefit from creating more resilience.  If the person were to insist
> that they liked them with no further attention, I would probably still
> suggest that I at least even them out.  The problem often comes that the
> individual doesn't play the piano at all levels when trying it out.  They
> might sit down and mezzopiano it through some little ditty and it sounds
> just fine.  But force it a bit, and the lack of attention creating the right
> underlying texture rears its ugly head.  If that situation were to arise
> (and it has) I always try and educate through demonstration.  So far, nobody
> has asked me to leave those inconsistencies unattended.  And I would not be
> inclined to do it even if they said they could live with it.  Unless they
> were really insistent that they wanted it that way I would not feel that the
> job was finished until I had addressed those finer points.  I don't think
> that doing so would change the overall character of the tone but it
> certainly would refine it.
> 
> If they hire me to do the job, they hire me, in part, for my expertise in
> this area.  I explain beforehand what I will do, the voicing that is
> required as part of the job, and the follow up after a certain amount of
> playing to go over it again.
> 
> I am talking about replacing hammers above.  When I encounter a piano for
> the first time and I see the need for voicing, I will ask them how they feel
> about the tone.  I'm not pushy, but if I judge that it's a piano and player
> interested in the potential of the instrument, I will give them an overall
> assessment after tuning of the general condition.  I am constantly surprised
> at the number of people who never knew regulation and voicing was an option
> with a piano.  They just thought what they heard was what they got.  That
> kind of assessment combined with inquiries about their goals for the type of
> instrument they want have led to a number of rebuilding jobs.  I am
> realistic and fair.  If somebody has a Lester spinet (and I do have a couple
> of people who not only have them, but love them), I would not try and talk
> them into a rebuilding job.  There are times when it's best to leave well
> enough alone.
> 
> David Love
> 

I understand David, thanks for clarifying.

David Koelzer
Vintage Pianos
DFW