hammers

[antares@euronet.nl]

On dinsdag, jun 3, 2003, at 01:54 Europe/Amsterdam, David M. Porritt 
wrote:

> Andre:
>
> Having read your take on hammers I have a question.  I have a church
> here that has a Bechstein "EN" concert grand, but it was built back
> when the had 88 agraffes.  I need to replace the hammers, but the top
> octave really needs very thin hammers in order to fit between the
> belly rail and still not hit the agraffes.  You stated that
> Bechsteins that have pointy hammers sound bad.  Any
> suggestions????????
>
> dave

Yes,
If you take a close look at in particular the old Bechsteins, you will 
see that those high treble hammers have to be rather small, in order to 
hit the strings at the right and only spot.
If you look very well you will see that these older hammers have a core 
which is extremely thin.
That is where the secret lies. The hammer crown is not pointed like a 
STW but still more or less rounded. So the hammer is thin but the 
striking area is more rounded than you would expect.

For that reason we (Grand Piano in Holland 00-31-75-6226878 and fax 
00-31-75-6226879 email : info@grandpiano.nl) have right now in our 
stock the original Bechstein hammers for Bechstein grands, with Wurzen 
felt.
Even on modern Bechsteins they sound much better, provided you glue 
them with - extreme - care!!

friendly greetings


Antares,
The Netherlands

see my website at : www.concertpianoservice.nl