New Steinway Hammers was---hammer thickness trimming jig

[David Love]

The problem is mostly one of control.  As Ed mentioned, he has a set that he
may have to soak in thinner because it's too bright and. Presumably, not
responding adequately to needles.  And if the hammer has too much lacquer
it's destroyed, in my view.  I can only guess how that hammer will develop
over time.  The hammers from Steinway have been very inconsistent in terms
of pressing and shape for many years.  Recently, they have improved on shape
but I think the prelacquering was to compensate for a pressing that was just
too mushy by itself and because the dealers often didn't have techs who felt
comfortable working with lacquer and so the pianos ended up like mush balls
on the showroom floor.  I have found that the Bacon sets from Ronsen do not
really change the palette in terms of being in sync with the Steinway model.
But you can order them pretty much any weight, or thickness and Ray can
deliver.  The pressing is a bit firmer than Steinway's so when you do add
lacquer you only need a very mild solution.  That adds density without
binding everything together and the hammer doesn't lose its resilience.
There have been other problems as well such as the overall length being too
short which means the tail is too short and checking is compromised.  

In fairness, I haven't seen an unlacquered set of Steinway hammers in awhile
because I pretty much gave up on them a few years ago.  They might be
improved but nothing I've heard recently in terms of their new pianos has
impressed me with respect to hammers.  Something happened in their
manufacturing of hammers awhile ago and I can't tell you what it was exactly
but they are neither consistent nor any good nor worth the money, in my
view.  Unless a customer absolutely insisted, I wouldn't use them and if I
did, I would insist that they come without any lacquer.    

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 
www.davidlovepianos.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of William Monroe
Sent: Friday, August 29, 2008 6:30 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: New Steinway Hammers was---hammer thickness trimming jig

David,

What drawbacks/disadvantages do you have with pre-lacquered hammers?  Or is 
it mainly a preference for a different tonal palette than S&S hammers give?

BTW, it is comforting to hear that others are experiencing the same issue 
with the width of the new hammers.  Thought it was just me and my poor 
technique.......

William R. Monroe



SNIP

> After much discussion about problems with
> prelacquering,..........

SNIP

> David Love