High tension? Low? Board stiffness? was Hammer Types

[Erwinspiano at aol.com]

Hi Alan
   You asked  about 20 questions but I'm  answering only a couple.  Ronsen 
Wurzen hammers are very consistent. 
I base this on having used a dozen or more sets.  SO the  difference is in 
the soundboard system/scaling/down bearing  etc.
  I think of high tension low tension in terms of plain  wire.  Steinway 
scales , models S,M,l,O & the A's as 160 ish lbs per  string on the plain wire.  
Models B,C,D have higher tension in the 180's or  higher or tensions that spike 
high like the C into the  190's.
  Other scale heads will have more to offer than  this.
  As far as no. of ribs in general the more the  merrier. Rather have too 
much support than not enough.  You have to  start paying attention to this stuff 
so you can begin to draw some general  conclusion your self.  How many ribs 
how tall etc.  where are the cut outs.  And remember most of the boards you  
will see are compression crowned so how do you quantify that? Not!  
  Dale's general rule of thumb is that the stiffer the  hammer requeiremnts 
the stiffer the soundboard & vice  verse.
  On the Wurzens you thought needed a thin dilution  of  juice. The lightest 
solution would probably give you enough of what you  were after without 
adverse effect or wait for a years hard  playing.
  So may question so little time
  Dale

Hi, 
In the recent hammer types thread David Love and others talked about  
high-tension and low-tension scales. Quantitatively what does that mean? I'd  like to 
see some actual, real-world parameters as to the upper and lower  limits of 
tension for high-tension  and low-tension scales. Would these parameters change 
correspondingly as the  size of the piano changes?  
Ditto for inharmonicity.  
I don't ask for much, do I?! ;-) 
While we're at it, can soundboard stiffness be evaluated (at least  
qualitatively) on your basic fully-strung piano in someone's living room? What  are the 
major factors that define stiffness? Does downbearing play a role  here? I'm 
looking for an answer that has specific, measurable quantities like,  "A stiff 
system has ribs spaced x inches apart with each rib notched into the  rim. 
Ribs are x inches in profile under the long bridge tapering to x inches  then 
tapering to x inches at the rim. A stiff board is x inches thick under  the long 
bridge tapering to ......, whereas a flexible system  ..................." 
And also, "X piano brand is a good example of a stiff  system, whereas x pianos 
use a more flexible system..........." You get the  idea. 
The other thing in this thread that got my attention was the description of  
the hammer types matched to the Walter scale. I installed a set of Ronsen  
Wurzen hammers on a Baldwin L last year. I would characterize the sound as  being 
darker and colorful, and maybe needing a little juice especially in the  top 
2 octaves for a bit more definition. Needling was not even a consideration  
for these hammers on this piano . But David's description of the Wurzens on  the 
Walter paints a very different picture of Ronsen Wurzens. So what gives?  Is 
there a lot of difference in Wurzens from set to set? Or is it that if we  
were to put the same Wurzens on the Baldwin L and then the Walter, we would  have 
"dark" hammers on one, but "bright" hammers on the other, the explanation  
being that the tone produced is a function of the interaction of the hammer  
with the board system? Is it possible for their to be enough difference in the  
board system to produce such different tone (needling like hell vs. maybe  
needing a bit of juice) from the same type of hammer (assuming the hammers are  
identical)? 
Trying to educate myself. Thanks for any responses and thanks also to David 
for initiating this  interesting thread. 
Alan 




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