advice on action/hammers

[JIMRPT@AOL.COM]

Larry McFatter wrote:
<<"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?).">>

Larry;
 First to address the "high tension hammer" thingee................ I am not 
sure just what exactly is meant by a "high tension hammer"...I suppose 
tensions in hammers are due to the formation of the hammer, 
felt weight/type/thickness and whether 'hot' or 'cold' pressed, etc. Tone 
inherently comes from the 'tension' of the hammer and the way in which this 
tension is manipulated by the technician, within certain known but 
nonetheless nebulous limits! :-).......... (this is not to be confused with 
the inherent tone of the existing soundboard system)

  Secondly as to your list of desirable qualities in your prospective new 
hammers.  It is the nature of 'all' hammers to change their tonal quality 
over time and it is the nature of the technicians job to keep this changing 
within the parameters you desire. When the tone reaches a point where the 
technician can no longer get the qualities you desire then it is time to 
change the hammers or the technician. :-) It is not unreasonable to expect 
the sound that you desire more or less immediately after new hammers are 
installed without waiting for the thingees to break in and change into what 
you want................... they are gonna change anyway.

  If you are happy with your current tech(s) I would suggest that you go with 
their recommendation as they are the ones who will have to produce for you.

 As a rebuilder I prefer the Renner Blue hammer for a M&H model 'A'. I find 
that for me it gives 'most' of qualities that you have listed. However that 
being said.......... so will the Abel Encore and several other makes.....but 
the Renner Blue is my weapon of choice on M&H usually.  The "...... edge of 
bell-like brightness" is going to have more to do with the soundboard than 
the hammer I'm afraid but if your M&H currently approaches this quality a new 
set of hammers probably will be able to elicit this quality fairly well.

 You have a marvelous instrument which has many fine characteristics but it 
can't be all the things you might desire. Rejoice in what you can get, accept 
that which you can't, and it still will be a marvelous sound. :-)

 As for all the rest of the parts...............just whatever your tech is 
happy working with. as the Renner/Abel/Tokiwa parts are all well made and 
each has their own characteristics. For instance in a large portion of my 
middle grade grand rebuilds I use Abel hammers, Tokiwa shanks/flanges and 
Renner repetitions.  Measurements are fairly critical though and I can't 
always use what I would like to use on all actions. Let your tech guide you 
here.
My view.
Jim Bryant (FL)