Voicing Down a Yamaha U1

[Stéphane Collin]

Keith,

Why not the crown ?  I hear often people saying not to touch the crown.
In my experience, when the problem is too much brightness over all the dynamic range, a little sugar coating on the crown does the job like no shoulder needling ever does.  Foreseen, of course, that it isn't some mecanical component in the thump that is offending, nor string heighth, nor ... etc. (problems other than hammer felt resiliency).  I use to check brightness at soft blow level, and do the required (but certainly no more) crown surface needling to get the PP even and mellow.  I do this first because it influences also the FF register.  I know better how much shoulder needling I must do to get FF right when PP is alreaddy right.  Opposite seems not to be true for me.  I mean, if I get FF even and not harsh (by deep needling low shoulders), ok. If then I check PP and do some needling to get that right (needling closer to the crown), then FF is not even anymore.
I only start with deep needling low shoulders when the problem is not enough fundamental in the note (sound stays closed).  I do mid shoulder needling for controlling volume at different registers.  But for overall brightness control, I soften the strike point.
At least, my experience is limited with Abel hammers (warm pressed, no underfelt).  I'm quite sure other hammers could react in a slightly different way.

Do you have a way to control overall brightness without touching the crown ?

By the way, why do those Yamaha U1 commonly tend to be harsh ?

Stéphane Collin.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Keith McGavern" <kam544@gbronline.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 2:59 PM
Subject: Re: Voicing Down a Yamaha U1


| At 7:11 AM -0500 7/28/03, cswearingen@daigger.com wrote:
| >...  Are there
| >other ways of really taking the brightness out of the hammer that is more
| >permanent than needling?
| >
| >Any ideas, suggestions, and comments would be greatly appreciated.
| 
| Corte,
| 
| Needling the Yamaha hammers is a very effective method if done the Yamaha way.
| 
| In your attempts you probably have not needled deeply enough, nor 
| often enough on the shoulders while working your way towards the 
| crown. Don't do the crown.
| 
| It takes 'elbow grease' to get the job done, but the results are 
| quite satisfactory.
| 
| Keith McGavern
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