<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>On Mar 2, 2011, at 11:06 PM, Dale Erwin wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif; font-size: small; "> "Good stuff" as you cynically mock me in terms of felt is as Joe defined it,... was a sound that required neither extensive needling or much juice. This along with appropriate pressing defines a "good" or workable hammer<br> I don't really know you yet, but Frankly, you may be redefining contrarian. Give some one credit for having some experience other than yourself.</span></span></blockquote></div><div><br></div>Hi Dale,<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Let me start by asking you to back off your touchiness meter a good bit. The whole purpose of a list like this is to have a number of people with their own unique experiences give contrasting views. We all learn from one another. If what you want is a list where everyone treats you as the expert, you've come to the wrong place. Disagreement about piano matters is not a personal thing, though some take it personally. I give you credit for having a lot more experience in the rebuilding field than I will ever have. You might give me credit for having, probably, more experience on the concert stage, both as a technician and as a performing pianist. I have a perspective that not many on this list have, and do my best to present that perspective in a clear and non-confrontational way, though some take it as confrontational.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I do not mock anyone who says that the felt produced today by Mr. Brand under the Weickert name is excellent. It is. So is the felt used by Abel for Brooks natural. So are lots of other felts in use today. What I DO take issue with is over-simplification, where people start to think that if they use a hammer made with the "best" felt, they will automatically get the best results. Absolutely not true, as I'm sure many of us can testify.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Similarly, if the best felt is pressed in the "best way," that is, soft pressed like it was in the "good old days," that also does not lead automatically to the best results. In the "good old days," the key/action ratio was higher and hammers were lighter. So a good tonal spectrum was produced by those relatively soft hammers. Put the same density of felt on heavier hammers with a lower ratio, and you don't get the range. It will probably work fine from PPP to mf, then take quite a bit more force to get to a forte, and fail altogether to get to a FF, let alone FFF. I am talking about tonal spectrum, not sound pressure (decibels). </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>This is true because of the change of weight combined with the change in ratio. I have found that the Weickert felt pressed a little harder as Renner does, or the Abel felt as in Brooks natural, both give results that are better for today's heavier hammers: they produce a better and larger tonal spectrum, with fairly minimal needling. The softer hammer may make some customers very, very happy, but I don't think it works in the concert hall, or in the professional pianist's studio (or as the serious student's practice instrument). Perhaps there are exceptions, and if so I'd like to hear about them.<br><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Regards,</div><div>Fred Sturm</div><div><a href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu">fssturm@unm.edu</a></div><div>“Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em>hammer</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>with which to shape it.” Brecht</div></div></span></div></span> </div><br></div></body></html>