[CAUT] Steinway D 25lb felt from NY - Watchdogs needed

[David Stanwood]

Hi Serge,

I think this is good as it has been my impression 
in the past that one of the weaknesses of Yamaha 
Concert pianos is having hammer weight in the 1/2 
medium weight zone which doesn't bring the most 
out of the board.   Got data?  Saying 22lb or 
25lb doesn't is rather unspecific.

David

>David
>
>Yamaha do the same now with the new CFX very very thick top felt from Wurzen
>and the S&S D Hamburg is 22 pound before and I think they go for bigger now
>
>If Steinway New York are 25 pounds now they have 
>for sure more felt density that before and this 
>is good... ( less plastic juice)
>
>But your right this not for every piano it is 
>way too simplistic there is no one side fit all 
>in this choice of hammer
>
>Serge Harel
>
>
>
>
>2011/3/17 David Stanwood <<mailto:stanwood at tiac.net>stanwood at tiac.net>
>
>Dear All,
>
>In my consulting work providing Precision 
>TouchDesign Specifications to my agent group I 
>receive a lot of hammer weight data on new 
>hammers and have been receiving such data for 
>almost two decades.  I have a pretty good handle 
>on what's normal and expected from various 
>manufacturers.
>
>I just received a set of data for a set of new 
>Steinway D hammers that is worth sharing 
>publicly because it falls on the edge of what I 
>would call normal.  The word I get is that 
>Steinway NY has in their pipeline a new design 
>for their Steinway D hammers using 25lb felt. 
>The note from the factory that came with the 
>hammers says:
>
>"Please be aware that these new Model D hammers 
>are being delivered with no lacquer solution or 
>"juice" having been applied. Fabrication 
>improvements have significantly reduced the 
>amount of reinforcing solution that may be 
>required. For this reason, please apply any 
>solution sparingly if tone building is required. 
>If you have any questions or concerns, please 
>call parts department 1-800-366-1853"
>
>I spoke with the Steinway NY parts Dept. 
>yesterday and they confirmed that all D sets 
>would be of this type from now on.  The 
>Hammer/Strike Weight level on this one set are 
>higher than just about anything I have ever seen 
>in my experience.  They start out in the low 
>high zone at note 1 increasing to top high at 
>note 40 then top high or higher from notes 55 - 
>80 down to 1/2 high at 88.  This set of hammers 
>has been tapered normally.  The graph may be 
>viewed at:
>
><http://www.stanwoodpiano.com/D25LBSW1.pdf>http://www.stanwoodpiano.com/D25LBSW1.pdf
>
>I have had experience with hammers of this 
>weight level.  There is a Steinway D at 
>Cincinnati Conservatory that I specified top 
>high hammer weights for and the sound is indeed 
>BIG.  It's a powerhouse piano for a big hall. 
> I've only specified a handful of others at 
>TopHigh for special needs.  I'm posting here as 
>a warning of sorts. Hammers of this weight level 
>could create touch weight problems without 
>special attention given to the Touch Design 
>Setup.  Also tone issues.  Some sound boards can 
>get overloaded with hammer weight levels above 
>1/2 High Zone.  The piano will tell you.
>
>If any of you have received a set of these 
>hammers and would like to share your hammer 
>weight data I'd be happy to produce graphs and 
>report back to the group.  Either ready to hang 
>weights or strike weights would be fine.  88 
>samples please.  With more data we can get a 
>truer picture of what is going on here.  Please 
>send me your data! Either raw data or in an 
>excel sheet:
>
>Strike Weight and Hammer Weight excel sheets at:
>
><http://www.stanwoodpiano.com/E-SmartChart3.xls>http://www.stanwoodpiano.com/E-SmartChart3.xls
>
>David Stanwood
>
>"Just trying to help"
>
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>--
>phone 514-750-4522
>cel 514-569-4414
>
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