Hi Dean
Well the statement you make on the bottom of your post is usually the
problem. I have voiced or replaced hammers in many older & newer Kawai & Yamaha
pianos & had tremendous improvements in tone. As is the case in so many
pianos with the harder pressed version of hammers, without out voicing, sustain
will always be short & the tone an imitation of the sound of shattering
glass.........., unless I sell a voicing job.
Some pianos I've serviced have been tonally so bad that IF after a
couple attempts at moving the client towards voicing without success, I have
politely suggested they perhaps they find someone else & also that I'm trying to
protect my hearing from the excessive DBs these pianos produce. A bold
move?... yes & but rarely does the client go elsewhere. The cleint doen't realize
what's possible. An A-B voicing demonstration is often the best sales
tool to share tonal changes with our clients & let them hear what's possible.
By the way I have replaced hammers in many old Kawai 500 series pianos,
KG-2's, GS-70 GS- 60. All with remarkable & stunning results. Not my words but
clients exclamations.
10 years or more ago a teacher bought her dream piano, a Kawai KG-2. She
liked it at first but then as it changed & brightened to unacceptable levels
within a short time & she thought she had truly purchased a Lemon. After
first attempting to voice some a very hard set of hammers without getting what
we wanted, I put in a few Isaac hammers in & her face lit up. She still
teaches & I saw the piano last week & the voicing was perfect even after all this
time & use. I have yet to stick a single needle in these hammers. DItto the
exact same experience time after time on the GS- 60 & 70 & Yamaha C-3s,
kawai 500,550 & others.
I saw the GS -70 recently as well & still hanging in after 12 years. It
is ready for a few minutes of needling & evening up but nothing major. This
client is big church Power pianist, always plays to the bottom of the
keys...vigorouly. By the way many of the pianos mentioned here just to be
accurate are the Isaac hammer is which are or can be softer hammers voiced up
properly with lacquer. On other pianos they are Ronsen Hammers. All these
painos are used more than the average.
As you may no Heroic & extreme voicing attempts are not with in the realm
of my patience any more. If the tone I KNOW is possible & it doesnt' develop
within a short amount of time, then hammers tell me they are just to hard
to achieve the lasting results & tone I want.
In these cases I'd rather the client spends the hundreds of dollars I
would have spent voicing, & put it towards a new set of hammers. The sustain
& balanced tone will be long lasting & without continual re-needling & tennis
elbow. You'll be a Wizard & the good will is enormous.
Hope this is of value friend
Dale
I don't get it. Most all of the Kawai grands I tune (which aren't that many)
I don't really care much for. Since there aren't any new Kawai's being sold
in this area most of the ones I encounter are 10 plus years old of the KG
variety, a couple of GS, one GS-70. I don't like the sustain. With the sustain
pedal on when playing an arpeggio the sound quickly fades into white noise and
one cannot discern what scale was just played. I've done some experimenting
even, hitting individual notes across the scale with an f blow and I get
about a second of tone before there is only noise.
These are pianos with original hammers that have probably never had a needle
stuck in them. Is this a hammer/voicing problem?
Dean
eereeeeerwinsErwins pianoDale Erwin--Piano Restorations
4721 Parker Rd.
Modesto, Calif 95357
Shop 209-577-8397
cell 209-985-0990
_http://www.erwinspiano.com/_ (http://www.erwinspiano.com/)
Specializing in the restoration, service & Sales of
Steinway, Mason & Hamlin, & other fine pianos
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