The only thing I would add to what Dale has said is that make sure you
needle deeply enough. I like to get pretty deep into the shoulder with my
needle(s). If you can't push in 3 needles, then go with a single needle.
Don't be afraid, you're not going to kill the hammer in the shoulders. As
long as your needle is still finding hard felt, you are almost never going
to get into trouble.
It's been a couple of years since my last set of Naturals, but I found them
to respond well to shoulder voicing and not rebound as much as other Abels
and Renners do.
Will Truitt
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Dale Erwin
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 10:25 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Abel naturals - report
Julia
My only direct contact with the Abel"natural" was a set I received that
were simply harder than any piano needed. After probing a few hammers with
a not 6 needle it was obvious they were in my opinion not Natural but were
treated in such a way as to make them un-natural. I sent them back. I have
squeezed others in the "Erwin-Davis Flex-o-meter" and found them to be very
spring like compressing down over the middle and out into the shoulders and
then regaining shape.
A close friend of mine whose ears and skills I trust implicitly has used
many sets and has liked them very much. Needing required to shift partial
balance, is normal in a well made hammer of this style of manufacture.
Hi Julia,
The result you have experienced is no different than so many other types
of sets of hammers that are too stiff, and after needling, do the nasty
sounding rebound thing. How disappointing. But not all is lost.
This may simply be a situation where perhaps not enough needle work has
yet been done to tame this particular set of hammers. You may go back for a
second round otf treatment. If the shoulders have been adequately
re-naturalized :)... thru needling, discontinue the hope that more will help
or permanent damage could occur. Perhaps a few needle strokes in the crown
will help increase sustain and inoculate against rebound. Support the tails
on the bench and drive a few stitches into the crown fairly deep on a few
test notes. Listen and make a determination as to the affect. Re-treat the
area as required.
The shoulder needling will only be partially effective if the core
(ie.crown to the molding) of the hammer is still frozen/too stiff. Remember
that a hammer is technically supposed to be a non-linear felt spring, not a
shock absorber, and being such it must have a unitized movement to function
well. This definition is not mine , it is from "The five lectures on the
acoustic piano." FWIW....Worth reading
I have to my own satisfaction over several decades found that the more
closely a hammer fits this model of a spring the less amount of rebound it
exhibits and has the best chance of producing a voicing stable experience. A
hammer acting as a spring has been treated carefully in manufacture and
great lengths have been take to ensure the Wool is left in springy state.
It has a memory. The"Natural"resilience of the wool will be the dynamic
force working for us in our favor to create tone by its "natural" state of
being. Any hammer which requires excessive needling is perhaps no longer in
its..."Natural" state and may be a clue telling us something is a miss.
Learning to read hammers before they are installed is possible and a
necessary skill to develop. Some techniques are squeezing, probing a few
with a no.6 needle, testing the side of the hammer with a finger nail for
stiffness or lack of. Much has been said on list about hammer sampling and
it is still good advice.
For me in my practice any hammer that repeatedly does the nasty rebound
thing after sufficient needling this is unacceptable and for me is failed
hammer transplant procedure and if I got that far I also failed to read the
hammers for the application.
The experience of needling the felt fibers closing up is exactly what
happens to felt because it wants to re-interlock. It does it...Naturally?
Ok enough said
Dale S. Erwin
www.Erwinspiano.com
209-577-8397
-----Original Message-----
From: Al Guecia/AlliedPianoCraft <AlliedPianoCraft at hotmail.com>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Mon, Jul 19, 2010 4:00 am
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Abel naturals - report
Julia, I have had good success with light steaming. I use a thin canvas type
cloth that doesn't hold much moisture. Wring it out as dry as you can, place
the cloth over the hammers and roll a hammer iron over each hammer for just
about one second. There is no hammer distortion, it's very effective and
will last much longer than needling.
Al -
High Point, NC
From: KeyKat88 at aol.com
Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 11:18 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Abel naturals - report
Greetings,
Well.... I replaced my Yami U3's original hammers with Abel naturals
in Feb . To me, they are very firm hammers that need alot of shoulder
easing; Their tone is nice though, once they are voiced enough. It seems
like I get them to sound good and then a few days later, the fibers "re
close" ...sort of like when you bunch up a plastic bag in your hand and it
expands/puffs back out.
Julia
PA
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