Hi,
You should read Overs comments on plates on his website. Also, if this was built during the Wickham / Kelly transition you might have bass spec issues as well as v-bar problems but it could be more symptomatic of bridge roll orloss of crown. There isn't much wiggle room over the years for the healthof a force-crowned board and I witnessed a few Steinways in Texas thatcame out of the box with reversed crown, so why don't you measure it aswell as the front to back bridge bearing so the discussion has a baseline.
Brent
--- On Fri, 2/11/11, Paul T Williams <pwilliams4 at unlnotes.unl.edu> wrote:
Subject: Re: [CAUT] NY hammers/ Hamberg hammers
To: caut at ptg.org
Date: Friday, February 11, 2011, 2:04 PM
On my exit for today, Brent,
This is a problem with this piano.
It was supposidly a C&A piano from
Texas (Ask Richard West on the history of this piano). It was chosen
by the piano faculty and they loved it. It has a strange history
on why its' here, btw.
Richard told me the plate was a bit
misconfigured and the plate in the bass is a bit too high. This is
indeed what I found when regulating the action. I have to be careful
when putting the action in and out to watch for the bass hammers as they're
a bit too high.
New Question: How much affect
is this on voicing and tone? Or just action problems, that I've overcome????
More best.
Now I'm getting really thirsty for that
pint!!
Paul
From:
Brent Fischer <brent.fischer at yahoo.com>
To:
caut at ptg.org
Date:
02/11/2011 02:56 PM
Subject:
Re: [CAUT] NY hammers/ Hamberg hammers
Hi Kevin,
It's impossible to extrapolate
the root cause of Mr. William's hammer
problem without a structural analysis. Must
remember that these
forced-crowned boards don't last more than
fifteen years for C at A
applications. Ten millimeters of crown out
of the piano, five at clamping
pressure, and 2.5 strung up. I'd wonder
if it was crowned in July or December?
The factory isn't exactly tight and it matters.
What about the plate? Read what
Overs has to say about sand cast specifications.
As far as Hamburg
hammers, you will fight serious weight issues
in the bass, although NY
gets it really close now, Hamburg doesn't
screw up geometry ever, as far
as I know, and they're gonna be heavier.
In addition, their bass strings
have different specs than NY, the ribs are
crowned, and their treble hammers
have a serious lack of under-felt but seem
to sound pretty good with that board.
Solution, if it isn't structural just get
another NY set and stay with NY
so your reputation can never be second guessed
by a Steinway processed artist.
Brent
--- On Fri, 2/11/11, Fortenberry, Kevin
<kevin.fortenberry at ttu.edu> wrote:
From: Fortenberry, Kevin <kevin.fortenberry at ttu.edu>
Subject: Re: [CAUT] NY hammers/ Hamberg hammers
To: "caut at ptg.org" <caut at ptg.org>
Date: Friday, February 11, 2011, 11:04 AM
Paul, not only do I feel your pain, but the
timing of this discussion is rather good. I am faced with this very decision
on several pianos. I am, like you, interested in experimenting with the
NY hammers, but we are facing budget cuts/time deadlines, etc. I really
wish it were possible to just order the Hamburg hammers. I have heard from
several sources that they are fabulous! I spoke with another technician
friend at a rather large University and he says that it IS possible to
order them, but even he admitted it is hard to do. (Anyone have any idea
on this? Kent?) He says they are a denser felt than the Renner Blues,
but do behave and voice very similarly to the blues. Almost every piano
here at Texas Tech (except the few newer pianos we have) has Renner Blues
(all 3 of our D-s included) which are great, but of course are fairly high
maintenance and just do not seem to last all that long. I love the
idea of the Hamburgs since they are "Steinway Hammers" which
satisfies those who want to stick with Steinway parts, and those of us
with limited time, and very limited $$$ don't have to experiment endless
hours with lacquer/lacquer thinner fumes, paint masks that do not allow
lacquer fumes to be breathed right into the lungs, etc. etc. Don't
get me wrong, I love our Steinways! I am gun-ho about Steinways--probably
to a fault, but someone please tell why we cannot just pick up the phone
and order Hamberg hammers! In the meantime, I will see what you discover
with these hammers, try some experimenting (thanks Fred for all the help
with this!), and maybe try those Abel Naturals everyone keeps raving when
possible. I have also heard the new Steinway shaped hammers from
Renner are challenging to voice--but I have only talked to one rebuilder
who had to file deeply to get any real tone. This could be wrong--are
these anything like the Hamgergs, also made my Renner??
Best to all, Kevin Fortenberry
-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org]
On Behalf Of caut-request at ptg.org
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 9:51 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: CAUT Digest, Vol 28, Issue 30
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Bum set of NY hammers, I'm afraid (Fred Sturm)
2. Re: Bum set of NY hammers, I'm afraid (David Love)
This set is lackluster from the bottom to the top. Perhaps they sent
me a
non-prelacquered set. I kept the old hammers and shanks, so I might
switch
them out, bring the new set to the shop and soak the crap out them with
a
4:1 mix. I guess I have nothing to lose and education to gain from
this.
This is my first set of NY Hammers. I've been using Wallys Naturals
for
years. Maybe I shouldn't have messed around in a new world. I
would have
put on another set of Abels, but the piano dept head insisted on Steinway
hammers as he's a "Steinway Concert Artist". I perhaps
shouldn't have said
anything, eh? and just used what I know how to use.
What's to expect from Hamburg hammers? Never used those either.
Keep em coming. Thanks guys!
Paul
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