Shellac vs. lacquer

[Susan Kline]

Thanks, David. That's the kind of detailed information which is helpful.
So far I've just used a few drops behind the strike point of mushy hammers,
(which technique I picked up from Steve Brady, who used it to good effect
once when I was watching) or a dilute solution applied to the crown in
the top octave. I just haven't had the occasion to work out a lot of styles
for voicing with shellac, so anyone else's experience with it is good
to hear.

"The shine without the ping" -- yes, that's what I'm after!

Susan

At 11:20 AM 7/15/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>Just a comment on using lacquer.  I assume you are talking about strike
>point hardening since you mention that you don't use shellac to build up a
>hammer from scratch.  I still use lacquer but the solutions I use vary.  For
>crown lacquering I use a much more dilute solution than I use for building
>up the overall density of the felt.  Whereas I use a 3:1 or 4:1 solution for
>building up a hammer from scratch, I will use a 5:1 for the crown (your
>dilutions may vary depending on the type of lacquer you are using).  At 5:1
>the attack will be slightly sharpened.  One application of a couple of drops
>is usually enough.  When the hammer is first played after it dries there
>will be a bit of crustiness.  But a few blows shifting the una corda back
>and forth as you play will break it up and leave just a bit more shine to
>the attack without the any unwanted pinging.