Voicing a U-1

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Vodka is a better deal1 See articles by Susan Kline
Joe Goss
imatunr@srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joseph Garrett" <joegarrett@earthlink.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 12:23 PM
Subject: Re: Voicing a U-1


> I have heard from some that an alcohol/water solution applied to the
> shoulders of the hammer will loosen the fibers of the hammer and bring the
> tone down.  Has anyone had any success with this technique?  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.
>
> Thanks in advance for your comments!
>
> Corte Swearingen
> Associate PTG Member
>
> Corte,
> I use two methods: 1: Denatured Alcohol and Distilled Water. I SATURATE
the
> hammers, with the exception of the top 5 or 6 hammers, (this depends on
what
> the initial sound of them is.). The one drawback to this method is that it
> tends to distort the shape of the hammer, (front to back view will be
narrow
> at the top of the hammer!). As long as you don't have a WIDE string
> grouping, this is not a problem, to me.
> 2. Linen or Cotton cloth and Hammer Iron. I wet the cloth, lay it on the
> hammer and iron away. I've found this to be my first choice, of late. It
> does about the same thing as the alcohol & water, but is less dramatic in
> it's effect. In other words, it's more controlable. This method will,
also,
> distort the hammer as the alcohol and water does, but less so. OH! An
> important thing: I have installed a Rheostat, inline, on my hammer iron,
so
> that I don't overdo the heat! Remember, we are ironing WOOL!<G>
> I hope this helps. Anything to bring down the "ball-peen hammers" is worth
> the effort. Once the initial "softening" is done, then smoothing out the
> tone is done with needles.
> Best Regards,
> Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
>
> Been There, Didn't Like It, So I'm Here To Stay! [G}
>
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