New hammers on a Steinway M

[BobDavis88 at aol.com]

Ed Foote says:
     A walloping big dose of thinned down lacquer.   Those may be totally 
untreated hammers, and may need to be nearly soaked with a 5 or 6:1 ratio of 
thinner to lacquer. 
Alex,

Assuming that these are NY and not Hamburg hammers (I would have thought 
Hamburg in Argentina); and agreeing with the caveat that there's no substitute for 
experience, as each set of Steinway hammers will be different out of the box; 
and that proper alignment, leveling, and shaping are prerequisites; and that 
needling techniques are different for this style of hammer, I'd add a couple 
of probable typical refinements once you get out the juicing fire hose.

First, (depending on your lacquer), I'd guess your first application needs to 
be even stronger in the high treble - at least 4:1 [thinner:lacquer] from G5 
to the top, and soak 'em. Get the whole hammer wet, at least in the top 
section. From F#5 or so down, I like to treat the core of the hammer and the tip 
separately. use the 5 or 6:1, but put it in from the shoulders and/or sides. What 
you want is to strengthen the hammer to increase power at high dynamic 
levels, but avoid the very tippy tip until you see how much attack sound you get. 
The one disadvantage of lacquer on the strike point is that it can take make the 
una corda pretty ugly unless you do some sophisticated needling. It can also 
be less stable than an untreated strike point.

Second, Steinway used to teach a simple way of thinking about the hardened 
style of hammers, which is "Use lacquer to increase power, use needles to reduce 
noise." This is oversimplified, as judicious needling can increase both power 
and sustain just as in the non-juiced style of hammer, just to a more limited 
extent. However, it can be a useful guide to the concept.

Third, this doesn't sound like a piano you should be comfortable gaining 
experience on. Subsequent applications of lacquer don't wick the same way as the 
first course, so experience is handy when deciding how much to put in. Ideally, 
you want to put in enough the first time, but only enough. Hire a mentor, if 
you can, or practice on spares.

Good luck,
Bob Davis, RPT
Stockton, CA 
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