Thanks Ed. amd all I may try some riblets. I  needled a lot and got some good results which brought out more reasons why the board is going bad.  Although, good things happened!  Lifting strings, tappping bridge pins down, (and strings, actually "massaging them into the nook of termination) took out almost all the false beats that were bugging me to death.  The sustain is very good overall, but the real power isn't there for a 9'.  I think, again, this is the soundboard talking to me.  It sounds more like a 7'-er in the mid and high treble...The bass is still quite good and I'll finish evening it out tomorrow.  Any other hints would be greatly appreciated!!  How do you all let the piano tell you that the soundboard is going even with decent downbearing???   Thanks again all!  You're an awesome resource for knowledge Paul   <table width=100%> <tr valign=top> <td width=40%>A440A@aol.com Sent by: caut-bounces@ptg.org 07/26/2008 09:38 AM <table border> <tr valign=top> <td bgcolor=white> <div align=center>Please respond to College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org></div></table> <td width=59%> <table width=100%> <tr valign=top> <td> <div align=right>To</div> <td>caut@ptg.org <tr valign=top> <td> <div align=right>cc</div> <td> <tr valign=top> <td> <div align=right>Subject</div> <td>Re: [CAUT] HELP</table> <table> <tr valign=top> <td> <td></table> </table> <tt>Paul writes: <<  I thought I grabbed the acetone to put some below the staple to help the fundamentals, but instead, grabbed the lacquer!  After seeing what I had done, I quickly grabbed the acetone and tried to dilute what I had done.  I'll check it out Sunday or Monday after all has dried, but;  Have I ruined these hammers?!?!? I doubt it.  What happens below the staple can easily be manipulated by working farther up in the hammer. At some point down there, the maker even has a thick slab of glue that has wicked into the hammer felt! >>I thought the Ronsen's didn't need laquer and such.    Depends on many things.  Any hammer can be put in a situation where it is too hard or too soft for the purpose. >>I was disappointed with the initial response.  Now, the bass is good with a 4:1 laquer treatment on the lower shoulders--twice in the single strings, but the killer octave area is really weak and tinny. >>      I suppose there is a philosophical perspective at work here ("The flow of energy through a system tends to organize that system".)  However,  I don't understand why time is left out of the equation, ie, hammers, initially, do NOT sound like they will after the first say, 40 hours of play.  I think there is a reason to do nothing, initially.  (This isn't usually applicable to the concert stage.)        Playing the hammer, after the felt has been stretched, pressed, glued, shaped, tapered, will cause the felt to change. It moves around, seeking equilibrium between the pressure and stretch.  Not only will the surface compact, and the felt directly below the strings begin to harden,  but the fundamental structure of the bulk of the felt will become more resilient, (assuming it is accepting of a needle, and not been soaked in a hardener).       I look for a hammer that produces various spectra according to the force of blow.  Plotted against our hearing bias, there is something very non-linear about all this, in terms of response. To get that, for me, requires a graduated density in the felt, from the contact down to the core.  Early in my career, I assumed that the rock hard level should be reached only at the bottom of the felt core, and the softening would be spread over the entire dimension from there to strike surface.  This allowed for a maximum range of tone, from foggy to brilliant, but the weak wristed need not play:  it took a lot of muscle to use all the range.  Comments like, "sounds good, but it's a lotta work to get tone", etc.   I have since changed my idea on this.           I have gotten good results by leaving a lot more of the hammer's "heart" in its original compression, and creating the "non-linear spring"  in a smaller zone, nearer to the surface.  It is a little trickier, but allows for a longer hammer life and ease of voicing.  A big part of this is letting the hammer break in before I begin doing things to it.  I have used so many Renner Blues, that I can needle them on the bench, before I do anything else.  They usually sound a little "cotton-ish" at first, but after a week or two of daily play, they require some medium deep needles up around 10:00-11:30 on the shoulders to loosen them up to their final voice.  I rarely need to needle at 12:00 on these hammers.      The last set of Abel's and Ronsen's have behaved much the same way, with a few differences. These were mainly in the sense of how quickly they broke in and the felt seemed a little less resiliant, (judging from the way the filed-off pile of felt felt).     Loudness depends on the upper partials,  power requires the lower ones.   To combine the two, in an evenly graduated way, is the art of producing a piano with a "malleable tone".  Pianists instinctively like this, as it allows a musical control that is unavailable on a piano that starts and ends with one tonal character.         Regards,         Ed Foote RPT http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html ************** Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today.       (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)</HTML> </tt>