Grungy hammers

[Roger Jolly]

Hi David,
          The blackened pin block is the exception and not the rule,
however I perform several jobs with this technique.  Job 1, very accurate
hammer spacing, makes uni-corda voicing later a snap due to having equal
shoulder and strike point. Job 2, string levelling and hammer to string
mating. Job 3, Una-corda voicing via chop stick from above, it firms up let
off and drop just enough to make shallow strike point needling very
effective. 
  Normally it's only the bass hammers that brush the block, a 2ft square
piece of Bristol card will prevent this from happening.  This is a dodge I
discovered after backing off hammer height on a no name piano several times
just to get the action out of the drawer.
  I'm not sure if this answers your question.
Regards Roger 




At 12:02 PM 17/08/98 -0500, you wrote:
>At 10:56 PM 8/15/98 , you wrote:
>> Use a 2" wide folded strip of
>>cloth between the jacks and the knuckles, this will cause the hammers to
>>block,
>
>>Have a nice day, Roger 
>
>I thought this idea of using a piece of cloth in between the knuckles and
>the jack was a great technique to help in blocking the hammers to the
>strings to help check string level and hammer/string contact.
>
>Unfortunately, on a rather expensive piano I found out too late that the
>cloth under the knuckles raised the hammers enough that they rubbed on the
>underside of the pinblock.  The underside of the pinblock had some black
>substance that rubbed onto the hammers and made the hammers all grungy
>looking.  What did I do wrong?  Or is there any way to prevent this from
>happening?
>
>Sincerely,
>David 
>
>David A. Vanderhoofven, RPT
>Joplin, Missouri
>dkvander@clandjop.com
>
>http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/
>
>#pianotech page:  
>
>http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/ircpiano.html
>
>New web page for the Joplin Community Concert Association
>
>http://www.concerts.joplin.com
>
>
Roger Jolly
Baldwin Yamaha Piano Centre
Saskatoon and Regina
Saskatchewan, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505