<html> <body> Doug, I did some plucking with my fingernail and noted that the fuzzy, unresolved tone persisted. Andrew Anderson At 02:39 PM 8/3/2007, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Have you tried a heavy guitar pick on these notes? If you can get more with the pick than with the hammers, then the hammers probably need work or replacement (and much work). IMHO, the results available with the NY Steinway hammers are more colorful than anything else, but you must  know how to develop and control tone--it's different from any other hammers I work on, and quite demanding on a D (like everything else on a D!). If you are more familiar with other hammers, the Hamburg hammer might work better for you, as the voicing methods are more like the other hammers' methods. Doug Wood On Jul 29, 2007, at 9:19 AM, Andrew Anderson wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> Listmembers, Some questions in response to the journal article; practical application. I service an S&S D where we are really unsatisfied with the mid to upper treble killer octaves.  I describe the sound a fuzzy.  The upper partials clash and do not settle into a clear ringing tone.  The high treble is fine.  This is the kind of sound you get from cheap chinese grands when you try to play them loud--distortion.  Problem is it happens at all dynamic levels.  Needling hasn't helped, shellac got us back some power but the sound still fritzes and fuzzes on us.  The Steinway Artist I was working with voted for replacement with Hamburg hammers (I'll second that one).  I was thinking about swapping in different hammers to check if it is the hammers but with this article I wonder about other solutions.  This four going on five year old S&S D has other issues but tonally we are experiencing a weaker, unresolved tone in this area. Would the use of riblets improve this situation?  I clamped a small grip on a bridge-pin and did not notice a difference here and so didn't explore soundboard impedance any further.  Perhaps stiffness and reducing the resonant frequency a little would help? Comments? Andrew Anderson at TAMIU </blockquote></blockquote></body> </html>