Hammers - alcohol treatment/Isaac

[Joseph Garrett]

Andrew queried: "I have a Yamaha Grand to tune tomorrow that I've been
thinking of
voicing.  It has a sharp tone that hurts the ear.  Am I to understand that
a 50/50 mix of water and denatured alcohol might save my needles some hard
work?  Do you iron that in or just let it soak in and dry out?

Comments, anyone, on ironing a wet towel over the hammer heads and its
affect on the piano's voice.  Would I achieve too much too fast?

Andrew,
First, use Distilled water and Denatured Alcohol. Just soak the heads at the
crown. You will be able to see the penetration as you put one drop at a time
on. I like to just get the saturation "to" the 9 and 3 o'clock positons, no
further. I generally don't do the last 6-8 hammers, (top treble). Once the
application is done, you will need to allow the stuff to dry. Overnight is
adequate. Then you MUST surface the hammers, as they will be grossly
distorted. Once all this is done then normal voicing techniques are used to
smooth out the sound(s). Don't forget to match the hammer to the strings.
This will give you a glaring difference in tone production from what it was.
I also use wetted, (with Distilled Water, please!), handkerchief and a
hammer iron, (with appropriate rheostat in the electrical line). This will
be less dramatic in it's effect and somewhat more controllable. In pianos
were "just a little" bringing down is appropriate, I prefer this method. I
hope this helps.
Best Regards and Happy Turkey Day to All,
Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
Captain, Tool Police
Squares Are I