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<DIV>Last year I asked about the lack of sound from one of our D's. (If you
recall, Olga Kern didn't like it). I got a lot of good advice, and
below are two posts I got from Jeff and Eric. Since then I ha=
ve
done a lot of work on the new D, but now, it just sits there. Most of the
players, including faculty and students, prefer the older piano. Personally,=
I
like the sound I get from the new D, but then maybe I'm prejudiced. I don't =
have
the thick skin Fred has, so this is becoming a personal challenge. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I wonder if any of you who have a similar situation, (2 concert grands
where is one is preferred over the other), if you've tried switching hammers=
? I
have thought about doing this, but if it has been tried before without =
much
success, I can save the time doing it. Any advice?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Wim </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Wim,<BR>As I have posted before, we have 2 D's both 1993 manufacture,
carefully <BR>selected at the same time by our faculty. It didn't take long
however, <BR>for one to become the instrument almost everybody plays, and th=
e
other <BR>sits in the corner, with rare exception, until both pianos are nee=
ded
<BR>simultaneously. The reason is that there is not as much life to the
<BR>tone. It's not that the second piano hasn't been played in - 8 1/2 <BR>y=
ears
of occasional playing should have accomplished that I would think <BR>(we di=
dn't
take possession of it until Fall '95).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The second piano is capable of plenty of dynamic ranges, just like the
<BR>primary instrument, but I've been looking at why they seem to feel one
<BR>has life and the other does not. It is difficult to get needles into <BR=
>the
hammers of the primary instrument, but on the second one, you can <BR>bury t=
hem
almost by dropping the weight of the voicing tool. Plenty <BR>loud when need=
ed,
but not much life - er, "color". Plucking strings <BR>reveals that the hamme=
rs
simply are not getting all they can out of the <BR>strings. All I do for voi=
cing
the piano with the harder hammers is to <BR>sweeten the strike point once in=
a
while and everyone loves it.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So, I'm going to try lacquering the way Ron Conors described how he
<BR>does it at the convention this summer. My goal is to get to it after <BR=
>the
semester ends, so I'll let you know if that serves as the Fairy <BR>Godmothe=
r.
It is time for Cinderella to go to the ball.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Jeff</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Jeff,<BR>I’ve been in the same situation before even on hammers=
that I’ve
soaked 3 times in 2:1 lacquer. The 4th soaking did the job…got it to=
that magic
place where it was transferring just the right kind of energy to the soundbo=
ard.
Heavier hammers need much more juicing in general and some hammers are
definitely more porous than others. My guess would be that piano #2 has bigg=
er,
heavier hammers. Lack of “color” or “dullness=
generally means not enough upper
partials so I think you are on the right track. You will awaken the sleeping=
giant.<BR>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<BR>Eric Wolfley<BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>