<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16527" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY style="WORD-WRAP: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space" bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Looks like we are really making sausage now, so here's more for the pot:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1) Pre-1919 (pre-nitrocellulose lacquer) we assume that shellac was used (or so goes the accepted, and perhaps true mythology). Alcohol and shellac would have been ubiquitous in a 1905 workshop.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2) Shellac works very nicely as a very thin size (not as a "filler.")  That is to say, it can be applied in a way that seems to stiffen the fibers without filling the spaces between the fibers so much.  A hammer treated this way will needle easily and not have the rock hard core of a lacquer soaked hammer. I don't know if shellac can be built up as hard as lacquer.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>3) A description of William Hupfer voicing in the S & S C & A basement in the 1950's, from <EM>The Finishing Touch</EM> by Bliven: '...For perfect tone a resilient top felt must be supported by a resilient under felt....for under-felt work Hupfer uses a longer three-needle pick and delivers more forceful jabs, aimed far in toward the shoulders of the hammer....(for) an exceptionally stubborn case, which refused to yield to his plunging jabs, (he) had to resort to the extreme measure of wiggling the needles about in the heart of the massed fibres...."</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Does this describe voicing a 2007 lacquer-soaked hammer?  Maybe it depends on where in the scale, which the book doesn't specify.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My experience with one new D, prepared by Eric Schandel about 2 years ago, is that it needs constant groove needling to keep the capo zingers at bay. The sustain is much better when it's voiced down.  Makes me wonder how much energy those duplexes steal when they are razzling away.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ed Sutton</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=fssturm@unm.edu href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu">Fred Sturm</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">College and University Technicians</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, September 21, 2007 7:59 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [CAUT] S&S Hammers and lacquer</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>On Sep 21, 2007, at 12:30 PM, Jeff Tanner wrote:</DIV><BR class=Apple-interchange-newline> <BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px Helvetica; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; orphans: 2; widows: 2"> <DIV>And so, if hammers were replaced by technicians in the field who didn't know to, didn't know how to, or chose not to use lacquer or shellac, this would explain why someone would find hammers from a NY 1920s D to not contain anything but felt.</DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>My question would have to be that if the ideal hammer was one that did not require lacquer -- if the sound they are looking for really required a hammer that did not require lacquer, then why spend $1 million plus <<recently>> on a new hammer press to manufacture hammers that still require lacquer?  How much sense does that make?</DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>Why not just call up Renner and say, hey guys, pick up production -- we're switching to your Wurzen hammers because they produce the sound we've always been searching for?</DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>Jeff</DIV></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR> <DIV>Hi Jeff,</DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=Apple-tab-span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></SPAN>I don't think you can argue that there was a grand design way back when (1920 or before) to create the Steinway sound via felt impregnated with hardener. I agree that they have decided today that that is the way they want to go, without excuses or regrets, but I think they got there slowly. That's what the history I have been able to gather tells me, regardless of the "official line" that "they have always been that way." That's why I included the anecdote about Franz Mohr in my earlier post. Why wouldn't the chief C & A tech be clued in if this was really a planned company policy? Franz is one of the most true blue Steinway guys around, and will tell you endlessly what a perfect instrument it is. So why would he, just a year ago or so, tell me that the reason they used lacquer in the 60s and 70s was because the hammers they had those days weren't good enough? It just doesn't add up. </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=Apple-tab-span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></SPAN>I'm happy with current policy and production. I can work with it, and lots of pianists and techs are satisfied, regardless of other arguments. But let's not try to re-write history. <BR> <DIV> <DIV>Regards,</DIV> <DIV>Fred Sturm</DIV> <DIV>University of New Mexico</DIV> <DIV><A href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu">fssturm@unm.edu</A></DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV></DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>