Dave, New Steinway hammers are most definitely heavier than the originals; that's why they use 17 mm shanks now. Putting them on an older model is a recipe for a whining customer. You're going to want to replace the shanks, which almost certainly have verdigris. (Check the repetition support flange, too). One possibility is to put on 16.5 mm shanks, but the leverage on SOME L's from that era is such that you can even use 16's, if you use a very light hammer, taper it top to bottom, and cove it more thoroughly. The advantage to that, in the few cases you can get away with it, is a low-inertia, short-keythrow action like the original. I have used the Abel Natural Felt hammers from Brooks, like others suggest. Light weight, nice old-fashioned sound. With them, we sometimes use 16 mm, sometimes 16.5. I like to make that decision during teardown, with dummy parts. Ronsen can also make a light set. If you want a big sound, Renners are heavier, also require good prep, require more voicing to get elasticity, 16.5 shanks. Be prepared to rebalance the keys. This is not a one-size-fits-all decision, but you at least have a lot of latitude for preference. Go try out some pianos at the shops of good action people. Bob Davis In a message dated 10/2/2008 8:10:52 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, piannaman at aol.com writes: Liszters, I have a customer, who also happens to have a son who's a classmate of my son, who has an old L that's in pretty good shape, except the hammers are shot. No room for shaping left on them. But the strings are good, board is good, block is good . It's pretty solid all-round. So after years of being pretty much strictly a home-service guy, I'm going to jump in and put a new set of hammers on this piano. It will be the first complete set I've ever replaced. I have had a few suggestions from folks on type of hammer, notably Steinway(sticking with the original, expensive) and Abel (more ready out-of-the-box, cheaper). I like the Ronsen VFGs that are on my Mason, too, but am not sure they'd match up well with the Steinway. I was assuming that I'd go with Steinway, but I need to ask the customer if authentic Steinway parts are necessary. Since I'm not tooled up to bore my own hammers, I'll probably get them pre-bored/pre-hung. Any suggestions or input would be welcomed. Dave Stahl, RPT Dave Stahl Piano Service dstahlpiano at sbcglobal.net dstahlpiano.net ____________________________________ Find phone numbers fast with the _New AOL Yellow Pages_ (http://yellowpages.aol.com/?NCID=emlweusyelp00000001) ! **************Looking for simple solutions to your real-life financial challenges? Check out WalletPop for the latest news and information, tips and calculators. (http://www.walletpop.com/?NCID=emlcntuswall00000001) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20081002/ce637b4b/attachment.html
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