Dear Lance, In order to clarify the situation, try raising the damper on some of the notes with limited sustain and plucking the strings to see how much sustain you have in the tone generating system. If the ring time is limited also when you test the sound in this manner, then work with the hammers and strike point will be of little help. You might get a small increase by lifting and settling the strings. If the ring time is short when the strings are plucked, check out the bearing, preferably with a stretched string or a bubble gauge. There are some fairly easy ways to increase (or decrease) bearing in the areas with the duplex aliquot by thinning or shimming the aliquot. Of course, there are also the nose bolts, if you dare... If you get better sustain by plucking, then check out strike point, hammer shape, and fitting. Everything in the action affects tone, especially the firmness of centers (you do have a lot of humidity in your area, do you not?) and the regulation. If the hammer shoulders are too inflexible, you might increase sustain by deep needling them as well. New Steinway hammers are usually pretty saturated with hardeners; however, if you need more brightness and clarity, try a very small drop of a very light solution of keytops and acetone (1 to 10) right on the crown. This should bring the tone up immediately, but in a way that can be easily voiced and smoothed out. Your indication that only a few notes lack sustain leads me to wonder about the hammers, rather than something more structural with the instrument. Regards, Charles >Greetings my fellow keyboard pecking friends. I just moved my shop and >family and am nearly back in business. I do not recommend moving. > >I have a customer with a five year old B in need of sustain in the lower >treble section. He first needed volume, I added hardener to the low >shoulders, got the volume and clarity on the attack, but the sound drops >off immediately and we have no sustain on several of the notes. I will >next check the strike point in that area, although the high notes are >right. When I voice Abel hammers, I stick the needle deep down the >shoulder along the molding for sustain, but was reluctant to try the same >on the Steinway hammer. Any suggestions? >Lance Lafargue, RPT >New Orleans Chapter >Covington, LA. >lafargue@iamerica.net Charles Ball, RPT School of Music University of Texas at Austin ckball@mail.utexas.edu
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