advice on action/hammers

[antares]

Dear Mr. Larry McFatter,
It is my opinion that when one does a restoration, one should go all the
way. It is therefor necessary to replace, in any case, the shanks and the
hammer heads.
Which shanks and heads? That is up to you and the technician in charge.
I am sure that if you have the right technician, your piano will be a marvel
after a hammer change.
Your new hammer can be voiced in many ways so that you can have all the
chocolate flavors you like (;>

Friendly greetings
from

Antares 
Amsterdam, Holland

> From: Larry E McFatter <mcfatter@csusb.edu>
> Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 14:37:04 -0800
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: advice on action/hammers
> 
> I'm not a technician but a performing pianist who is very interested in
> great piano sound. I'm facing a decision about my own piano for which I
> need the advice of professionals who make these decisions on a regular
> basis. Eighteen months ago I bought from a rebuilder/restorer a Mason &
> Hamlin A made about 1918 that is used as my practice piano at home. At the
> time of purchase everything had been restored/refinished (new pin block,
> pins, shimmed and refinished soundboard, dampers, new strings, case
> refinished, etc.) except the action and hammers which are the original
> ones. The piano had apparently not been played much in its previous life and,
> since the action and hammers were still in acceptable condition, the
> decision was made not to rebuild/replace them yet. I've given the piano a
> workout and listened to it very closely since its purchase. I'm now
> satisfied that the restoration work that has been done to date has been
> good and that the piano has inherently a fine, broad tonal spectrum, but
> the tone is being compromised by the old hammers and action. So I'm asking
> for your advice on which action and hammer combination (i.e. Renner action
> + Abel hammers, a Japanese action + Renner hammers, etc.) you believe will
> give me the tonal results that I want to achieve and superb control, even
> at very soft dynamics. Because the piano is used in my home I need somewhat
> different tonal characteristics than I might need for a piano in a recital
> hall or playing with an orchestra. I'm very concerned to avoid that
> shallow, over-bright, strident tone that tends to plague the asian pianos
> (especially) after only a few years of regular use. It's been suggested to
> me that I avoid high tension hammers in favor of ones that may initially
> sound a bit mushy but will age more gracefully. True? Here's what I want:
> 
> 1. a dark, rich tone at soft dynamics (like dark chocolate?);
> 2. a warm, round tone at medium dynamics (milk chocolate?);
> 3. an edge of bell-like brightness (but not over-bright or strident) at loud
> dynamics (milk chocolate swirled with tart raspberry?).
> 
> Any thoughts? (about the piano, I mean; I already have plenty of chocolate).
> 
> Larry McFatter
> Music Department
> California State University, San Bernardino
> mcfatter@csusb.edu
> 
> 
>