Horowitz piano

[A440A@aol.com]

 antares writes:

<< And I have a theory that we should actually not file hammers at all or 
at the most just one time.  

Besides, when we file hammers really thoroughly, they weigh less and 
give a more shrill tone. There is less 'meat' to stick your needles in 
and it won't hold as long as you would expect.
So what am I saying? File as little as possible, with a maximum of one time 
per hammer life, 
then do a hammer change.
result?
Happy customer, happy tech. >>

Greetings, 
   Um, in an ideal world, yes, however, there is one problem with this 
approach.  It assumes that the hammers were the optimum size to start with!  
I have seen more than a few factory installed hammers that were too large for 
the piano and/or the action they were on.  Steinways and some of the '70s 
vintage Mason and Hamlins come to mind.  I have weighed hammers on a Steinway 
M that were the same weight as a Steinway D, so I would be reluctant to 
propose that hammer size is exactly "standard".   Also, it is not uncommon to 
find a piano on which the hammers have already been changed, and what was 
installed were too large.  
    I usually file the concert hammers at the school here once a year for 
their normal 4 year lifespan.  They do get brassy in that last year, but that 
is the nature of school budgets.  I also have few customers that would be 
happy to pay for new hammers every three or four years....... 
Regards,  
 Ed Foote RPT 
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html