---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment On 21-feb-04, at 2:24, Kevin E. Ramsey wrote: > I was worried that someone who wasn't highly trained got to your=20 > piano and did something which could probably be undone by a qualified=20= > technician, and when I saw the comment on changing hammers, I felt I=20= > had to jump in and bring a stop to such rubbish. I don't think you can=20= > even get Shigeru hammers for a small section, without replacing the=20 > whole set. You certainly wouldn't want any other kind on that piano. > =A0I hope that I've helped, at least I've stopped something bad from=20= > happening. Please feel free to write back after this is resolved,=20 > perhaps I can learn something here also. > =A0 > Yours, > Kevin E. Ramsey R.P.T. Hi Kevin, =46rom the information from the owner of the Kawai grand, we could = deduct=20 that, although there may be some voicing problems, the instrument=20 basically is beautiful and that it will be alright after treatment. The=20= warning sign are flashing, so something will have to be done. Indeed, a hammer change would be drastic and premature, especially if a=20= well trained technician has worked before on this instrument. On the other hand, why be so afraid of a hammer change? I do nothing but hammer changes, and have done so for many years, on=20 old instruments, but also on new instruments. The new instruments had for instance been voiced too much in the=20 factory and could not be helped anymore. I have also encountered quite a number of new concert grands (and=20 especially Steinways !) which had big trouble already right from the=20 start, and why? because of over filing, over needling and over doping. A hammer change is/was often the only answer but this answer always=20 came to light after a year or so.. I remember for instance this guy at B=F6sendorfer who had been filing = and=20 voicing and filing and voicing his concert hammers all day long, so to=20= speak. At the end of the day, he came to the embarrassing conclusion that he=20 had gone too far. The next day he happily did a new hammer filing and=20 started the process all over again. That instrument has been sold of=20 course but was in need of new hammers right from the start. Somebody bought it and it could have been yours. here a quote from the owner: Actually, the piano was very harsh when coming from Japan. A french=20 Master Piano Artisan has prepared the piano and I've tried it before=20 ordering. I've well noticed the need to give more power to these notes=20= to get more balanced sound, and I've considered this a minor problem.=20 The MPA told me to play the piano for 6 months and he will improve=20 thisduring the visit at my house (MPAs are licensed by Kawai to service=20= Shigeru's). This is a very clear case to me as I have encountered it many times :=20 Basically the instrument is fine, but indeed, it might be possible that=20= a technician in Japan had just a bad night or a cold, and thus had some=20= trouble with the area described, and over-needled it - slightly (why=20 not? is he/she a saint?). Then the instrument was put in a crate and=20 into a container and loaded on the deck of a ship, and so the long=20 journey started to Europe, or where ever. - (There was this moment when this very respected voicing technician in=20= Japan told me that 'tomorrow he could not be there to give me=20 instructions, because he had to prepare some concert instruments for a=20= selection by a famous pianist. I immediately jumped up and asked him whether it would be possible to=20 listen to his work after the pianist had been gone again. And so it=20 happened that the next day he took me to a small hall within the=20 factory, I had not seen before. 10 concert instruments had been prepared and my instructor asked me to=20= pick out the nicest ones. Within a few minutes I had made my choice and told him that there were=20= two I liked very much because they were very rich in tone and very=20 even. It was a lucky moment because these two instruments were the ones he=20 had prepared himself. I then asked him why it was that not all concert grands were just as=20 beautiful, to which he answered that "not every technician has the same=20= qualities and that to some he would give a 7 (on a scale of 1 to 10)=20 and others a 9. "They are people, and all people are different".) - It is well known, that a journey in a container may cause some problems=20= with the product, due to temperature and humidity changes. For that=20 reason, all instruments, 'normally' speaking, undergo a check on=20 arrival. This check is usually not done in the shop, but in the place=20 of transhipment where the products will be stored temporarily. Of course I don't know anything about your technical background (so=20 forgive me if this is old hat to you), but let me tell you that often=20 this technical brush up is a bitter laugh, and the work minutes are=20 counted, literally, out of commercial consideration. The next place where the instrument goes to is the piano shop. I have travelled very much, and I am always interested in the local=20 piano shops where ever my journey takes me (sounds familiar?). Most often, almost all instruments in any shop, anywhere, are in soso=20 shape. They are always out of tune, and always need regulation and=20 voicing. Why? That is because 1. often - the shop owners don't have the technical knowledge 2. often - the shop owners don't have experienced technicians (because=20= they, the techs, work for themselves) 3. often - the shop owners don't want to invest extra money and hold=20 the importer responsible for technical complaints. The importer always grumbles and first tells the shop owner to fix the=20= problem himself, and when this has no result (or, when it - usually -=20 gets worse) and the customer keeps complaining, a trained tech will=20 come by to fix the problem. This all costs extra money which nobody wants to pay. =A0 =A0Factory technicians are not holy, you know. I have been in quite a number of factories and was often amazed at the=20= way their instruments left the factory. In my opinion, the finest instrument is an instrument that has a higher=20= and recognizable quality from the start and as we know, maybe oneout of=20= ten is uniquely beautiful. Usually, such a fine instrument has already been selected in the=20 factory for special occasions. There were for instance the fine Yamaha CFFIII-S grands, specially=20 selected for Mr. S. Richter on which he played his concerts all over=20 the world, accompanied by the finest technicians. If we encounter a 'diamond' piano, even a bad technician may have=20 success with it. The other ones, the ones with 'some problems' ask for more refinement.=20= The tech servicing these more difficult instruments, has to be very=20 awake and sharp and of course highly experienced from the start. Coming back to changing hammers : I have now described in detail several circumstances that could lead to=20= a premature hammer change on a fairly new instrument. If we have experience in doing hammer changes and we have done so for=20 many years, we go from level to level, year after year, just as=20 everyone else who gets more and more experience in his/her field. In a factory this goes of course much faster because it is a daily=20 routine. If we trust the voicing technician in the factory, can we not=20= also trust the highly experienced and factory trained technician in the=20= field? Of course we can. If an experienced technician, indeed, not only has technical qualities=20= but also has an artistic disposition, we should be assured that a=20 hammer change on such a fine instrument (and any hammer change) will be=20= brought to a good musical end. They are just rare, that's all. P.S. quote from the Shigeru owner : I'm confident the technician will recover some brightness to these=20 notes. I'll follow you regarding juicing. I agree that "banging" the=20 hammers might do the trick. I'll also take care of the keyboard frame=20 level in that range. The piano tech of my local dealer (familiar with S&S) tells me dry=20 ironing on the shoulders, not directly on the crown, would anyway=20 recover a cleaner attack at soft playing. it's likely something that=20 could be tested, in a conservative way of course. What do you think ? unquote A correct regulation of the bedding screws belongs to regulation and=20 that should have been done right from the beginning and a check should=20= always be made because the key frame changes position all the time due=20= to changes in humidity. I have used the word 'banging' here because it has been taught to me=20 in several factories. It is a highly successful but should be done=20 carefully in order not to overdo it. I am against ironing hammers because it is always a temporary measure=20 and it is very dangerous. If hammers contain too much water, due to high humidity, we should=20 alter the climate conditions in the hall or room, or install the right=20= dampp chaser system. In my opinion we must avoid working on hammers as much as is possible.=20= If we have an exquisite instrument the regulation, the hammers and the=20= tuning are of the greatest importance. Of these, the hammers are the most important and dangerous items=20 because they are much more complex. Why are they complex? Because of the fact that hammers have a 'certain' wool quality, they=20 have a hammer molding which plays a role in making sound and which also=20= defines the volume, and we have here a very complex number of tension=20 area's which play an incredibly important role in defining the tonal=20 outcome. Hammers (and thus hammer felt) are actually so important, that we=20 (Grand Piano) now give lectures about Wurzen felt and how to voice it. Because I personally put so much emphasis on hammers, it was rather=20 'strange' to me that, generally speaking, hardly anybody on this list=20 reacts to my ramblings about this issue. Apparently it is not considered important or interesting enough. On the other hand, maybe I should turn off my computer and read Donald=20= Duck instead (?) friendly greetings from Andr=E9 Oorebeek Amsterdam - The Netherlands 0031-20-6237357 0645-492389 0031-75-6226878 www.concertpianoservice.nl www.grandpiano.nl ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 11858 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/6d/28/15/44/attachment.bin ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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