Lacquering Hammers Wait to Play On?

[Eugenia Carter]

Greg, John, Wim,

It has been my experience that lacquer and acetone are two distinctly
different applications for two distinctly different purposes, especially
when applying these solutions to soft hammers as opposed to hard ones.

Regarding the original question, when applying lacquer I try to leave it to
dry for 24 hours minimum before doing anything else, especially testing the
sound in the piano. I do it like this because I learned the technique from
some very experienced S&S technicians like Fred Drasche. It's one of those
rare times I did without questioning why just because I was told that's the
way it's done. :-)

Fred (paraphrasing) said that it's necessary to allow the laquer to dry
enough so that when you play the hammers they won't be too wet. Playing them
before the laquer has dried enough may change the fibers within the hammers.
He always emphasized that the hammers _will_ sound different after 6 months,
and more different after one year, with subtle changes in between because as
the laquer hardens the tone is affected. I've found this to be quite true.

There have been a couple occasions where I've lacquered in the morning,
turned up the heat, set them in front of a large fan to dry and came back
6 - 8 hours later. Then gave them a quick voicing and used them for a
rehearsal that night. Results were ok, but I sure had to work with those
hammers quite a bit more than usual the rest of that season because the tone
did change more than usual.

The acetone application used currently by S&S (and which I originally
learned from Baldwin years ago) is not used in the factory. Only lacquer is
used at the factory. Acetone is used in the basement at Steinway Hall by the
concert techs and by the concert techs out in the field and at conferences
and seminars. They recommend its application only to even out sound from
note to note. It is not used initially to harden the soft, S&S hammer. It is
not used wholesale. Their (S&S) recommendation is to use it only to change
the sound of a few notes when the tech is under a time crunch and does not
have time to work with lacquer.

I myself do not prefer the acetone sound and will go to great lengths to
avoid using it. :-)

Hope this helps some.

Gina


----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Newell" <gnewell@ameritech.net>
To: <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 11:09 PM
Subject: Re: Lacquering Hammers Wait to Play On?


> It seems that the subject has become confused. The original question was
> how ;long to wait after applying LACQUER. A response was made but
> refering to ACETONE  / KEYTOP. Wim, you now apply the post that a S & S
> tech used with Actone / keytop to Lacquer. For those of us who wish to
> stay on the same page ... which are we talking about????
>
> Greg
>
> Wimblees@aol.com wrote:
>
> > In a message dated 12/3/01 11:38:08 AM Central Standard Time,
> > jbaird@fgi.net writes:
> >
> >
> >
> >> Using the acetone/keytop solution (in this case to bring up the tone
> >> of the
> >> whole piano), he brushes a small amount on the crown, then slides
> >> the action
> >> back in and immediately pounds it in while shifting into both
> >> positions. He
> >> mutes the strings with his finger while pounding--maybe just to
> >> spare his
> >> ears, I don't know. The result is a very even and slightly brighter
> >> tone. In
> >> any case, there was no waiting before playing.
> >>
> >> John Baird
> >> Millikin University
> >> Decatur, Illinois
> >>
> >
> > John
> >
> > It would seem to me that the process of pounding is creating a
> > brighter tone more that the lacquer. If you pound right away, I don't
> > think the lacquer will have a chance to soak into fibers of the
> > hammers. I also think by pounding the string hard right away, it will
> > force the lacquer right back out of the hammer, and onto the strings.
> > It would be like putting a brush in the lacquer and then right away
> > hitting the side of the handle again the table. The lacquer would come
> > right off the brush.
> >
> > Wim
>
> --
> Greg Newell
> mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net
>
>