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Eric,<br>
<br>
At 03:06 PM 12/11/99 -0800, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite cite>If I remember correctly from 4-5 years ago the
voicing done in the<br>
Basement at Steinway Hall used a different technique than in the<br>
factory. The factory voicers used water white lacquer and thinner,<br>
avoiding the crown except in the high treble and applying from the<br>
shoulders gradually. </blockquote><br>
That is the more traditional approach. The type of lacquer has
varied<br>
over time, and from voicer to voicer.<br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite cite><x-tab> </x-tab>The
C and A department used acetone as the thinner and perhaps the<br>
pellets mentioned by Horace and were more aggressive in application
from<br>
the start. As I remember, Scott Jones was trying to have the
basement<br>
techniques used more widely in the factory. </blockquote><br>
Yes.<br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite cite><x-tab> </x-tab>Would
the development of the use of acetone be related to the<br>
different time constraints and the type of work being done in the C
and<br>
A Deptartment? If lacquer of one type or another is better than the<br>
plastics is there any reason to avoid using acetone as the thinner?
</blockquote><br>
The answer to question one is that that is the excuse used to
justify<br>
the change.<br>
<br>
Question two is less politically charged. My personal preference,
when<br>
time allows, is to use lacquer thinner, rather than acetone. The
slower<br>
drying thinner seems to allow a more homogenous penetration of the
hammer.<br>
The acetone-thinned lacquer, by comparison, tends to wick to the
areas<br>
of greatest surface exposure (most noticably around the edges of
the<br>
hammer) and has a further tendency to "clump up" (an obscure
technical<br>
term meaning some parts are unpredictably harder than others) more
than<br>
lacquer thinned with thinner.<br>
<br>
David Ilvedson made a very interesting observation on this general
topic<br>
in relating that a particular piano "cut through the
mix". Lest we all<br>
forget, most folks no longer "hear" acoustic pianos as acoustic
instruments.<br>
Those of us who deal with more "traditional" concert hall-type
situations<br>
are in the decreasing minority. <br>
<br>
It must be Miller time...<br>
<br>
Horace<br>
<br>
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