Wurzen Hammers/work hardening

[Barbara Richmond]

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Hey Joe,

Didn't mean to yank your chain.  ;-)

Well, I haven't gone back and read every report on the Ronsen Wurzens, =
but my overall impression has been that very little seems to be done to =
them--which I find amazing (a bit of heaven on earth?).  Yet, I remember =
Andre writing about needling hammers--but maybe that had nothing or very =
little to do with Wurzens. (Yes, yes, I'll try them the next chance I =
have.) =20

OK, so back to work hardening--does it improve bloom and sustain?  My =
experience is that work hardening does not take care of those things (or =
it *could* very well be I've never let it).  Anyway, the B & S (hey, I =
like that!) is what I'm usually needling for, unless, of course, I'm =
doing my heretical strike point act.  :-)    =20

In other words, what does the maturing of sound production involve?  =
Power & attack would be my guess, but maybe there's something more going =
on.

???

Barbara Richmond

  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Joe Garrett=20
  To: pianotech=20
  Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 5:12 PM
  Subject: re: Wurzen Hammers


  The current thread, about Wurzen Hammers, was started as a query about =
"Work Hardening Hammers". As usual, it has taken several turns away from =
the main topic! :-(
  My comments regarding the Wurzen Hammers on the 1867 Chickering were =
totally misconstrued, IMO. My comments were in regard to "straight out =
of the box" and not what they can be. "Straight out of the box", these =
hammers were not that much different than the Ronsen Euros, which I =
like. As I have been using hammers from Ronsen for over 30 years, I =
pretty much know what to expect. The last few notes in the treble were =
weak. I expected that. Ray presses the hammers as hard as he can, in =
that area, w/o busting up/distorting the moulding. This is a GOOD thing, =
as it allows the tech to bring the hammers up to an acceptable =
brilliance, rather than other hammers that are too bright at the onset =
and get absolutely crappy with a little playing. I hate voicing, i.e. =
sticking needles, consequently, the less of that I can do and still =
achieve a good overall tone, the better!!!
  Now that the piano has been played, (heavily), by some of my pianistic =
friends,<G>, the tone is really coming into it's own. All of this w/o =
sticking needles into the felt and destroying the interlock of the =
fiber(s)! To me that is what it's all about: With a good scale, good =
board/bridge, good action and attention to detail. Needles are the LAST =
thing I want to do or need, in most cases
  But, I digress from the initial "hypothesis" of "work hardening =
hammers". I believe the hammer MUST be played in, in order to achieve =
it's maximum potential. How long this takes, depends on the hammer and =
the piano AND it's amount of use. This "playing in" can be sped up with =
my "Pounder", but this alone will not do the whole job. If anyone were =
to ask me what hammer I would recommend for the maximum tone production, =
for a given piano, I would say only one word: WURZEN! The cost is so =
very much the same, from one set to the other, that there is no =
contest....Buy the best!
  Joe Garrett, R.P.T.
  Captain, Tool Police
  Squares R I
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