PLIER VOICING - SURVEY

[Lance Lafargue]

Bill,
 I SOMETIMES use pliers.  It depends on the instrument/time/$/present tone,
etc.  I mainly wanted to call everyone's attention to some Vise-Grip brand
pliers that are available that I use for this.  You will see in at least
one suppliers catalog a pair of EXPENSIVE voicing pliers.  Vise grip makes
a pair of pliers with a similar jaw that is great for voicing.  Basically
the jaws are rounded and can reach in the middle of the felt to compress it
OUT, rather than the regular vise grips with flat jaws that kind of
compress the felt.  It is VERY hard to describe this without
illustrations-sorry. (see below) The jaws are rounded and can act like your
fingers just reaching in the middle of the felt, compressing in a small
area in the middle of the felt, fluffing it outward in all directions. 
With the adjustment screw you can have control over the amount of
compression which you cannot do with expensive pliers available from the
suppliers.  The pair I have says 6R (size) on them and the jaws look like
this>    ----)   (----    (sort of) They leave NO jaw groove marks and work
great!!  CAUTION!!  WARNING!! As always- keep brain engaged at all times-
you can over-do any good thing.. Start low on the shoulder and work up. 
Listen, listen, listen....

Regards,

Lance Lafargue, RPT
New Orleans Chapter
Covington, LA.
lafargue@iamerica.net

----------
> From: BSimon1234@aol.com
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: PLIER  VOICING  - SURVEY
> Date: Thursday, November 27, 1997 5:01 PM
> 
> I have been reading all the posts about wetting hammers, steaming
hammers,
>  stabbbing them with needles, washing plastics and lacquers in and out of
> them, ironing them, etc. I am beginning to feel pity for the poor little
> things.
> 
> Let's have it!   Who out there has had good or bad experiences with plier
> voicing!  Are there any strong prejudices about the way one massages wool
> fibers in hard hammers?
> 
> IMHO - Two minutes of plier voicing,  which uses gas burner pliers or
small
> Vice Grip pliers to squeeze the shoulder areas of hammers that is
normally
> needled in voicing, can make a huge improvement in tone, especially to
Jesse
> French spinets, Winter spinets,  and 1910 big old uprights with rock hard
> hammers. I use the technique on perhaps 4 or 5 pianos a year and never
charge
> for it because an entire set of hammers can be treated in less than three
> minutes.  I am not suggesting that one go regulate a Steinway concert
grand
> this way, -- but WHY NOT? - It is/was a technique very heavily used
decades
> ago but has become unfashionable now.  I would love to hear technical
reasons
> for its demise!
> 
> I KNOW that one is supposed to sell a new set of imported hammers and a
> $200.00 voicing job on these PSO's, but that is unrealistic.  By the way,
>  the plier voicing holds for about 6 months to a year.
> 
> (Putting on my flame retarding suit)
> Bill Simon
> Phoenix