hammer juice

[jolly roger]

Good for you Ed, our thoughts are some what similar, but I did loose a pint
of 4:1 on a new set of D hammers. the crowns are still untouch as of yet.
I will wait for that, if needed when the piano is back in the hall.  It
took two weeks for the build up.  It sure pays to be patient and wait 3
days with some playing in between.

Regards roger


At 02:21 PM 9/4/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Greetings, 
>I wrote: 
>>  This may be good or bad, depending on how you juice. 
> 
>Roger writes: 
>>Now would that be, pour, pour, pour,...
>
>No,  actually that is the factory method.  I use an eyedropper. 
>    We recently purchased 6 new Steinway grands at the Blair School of
Music. 
> As delivered, the pianos sounded like there were marshmallows for hammers 
>and the faculty screamed!  I held them all back, saying we needed to give
the 
>hammers a chance to break in and the tone to come up. (the absolutely 
>deplorable state of regulation these pianos were in when delivered didn't 
>help, either). 
>    After two semesters, only one of the instructors was satisfied with the 
>tone, so the other five got my treatment.  The pianos are now sounding much 
>better, and this is what I did. 
>   The first stage with the Steinway hammer is to firm the shoulders, so I 
>put approx.  6 drops on each side of the hammer at the low shoulder,(at 3:00 
>and 9:00, where the "reinforcment" usually stops. )  I then let this sit for 
>at least 24 hours. 
>    In the second stage, the first thing I do is listen, particularly to the 
>spectrum at FF. The tone at pianissimo rarely changes by this first doping, 
>but the heavier blows will demonstrate some brilliance beginning to appear. 
>Those hammers that don't at least hint at some tone on heavy play get
another 
>5 drops on the shoulders and then I wait again. 
>    Once I know that there is a half-moon of hardened felt out there at the 
>shoulders, I add another five drops to each shoulder slightly above the
first 
>application, near 10 and 2:00.  My experience indicates that the first area 
>doped keeps this second treatment farther up in the hammer.  It seems that 
>the solution used in the second  application can't really penetrate the area 
>that was first doped, so it tends to go farther into the hammer and also
goes 
>more up toward the crown than down.  I try to make sure that the hammer's 
>region near the tip of the corewood can see some of this second doping,
while 
>leaving a wedge of undoped felt directly under the strike point.  
>    If there is more brightening to be done on the third listening, it 
>usually requires no more than a two or three drops at about 10 and 2:00 
>again.  
>    Once all this is completed, I have a hammer that breaks in nicely, and
in 
>the future, I can voice them down with needles directly in from the top.  I 
>find that when I am finished,and the hammers have been used for 15 hours or 
>so,  I have a nice mellow pianissimo,(remember, the felt on the very top is 
>still un-hardened) but as soon as additional force is applied, the tone 
>begins to change. This is the essence of creating a "voice" for that 
>particular hammer.  What does this voice do?  It provides the pianist with 
>control over the tone, (to go with the colors of the temperament, but THAT
is 
>a digression) 
>    When  the note is played softly, I want the tonal output to resemble the 
>distant French horn, (played out by the lake in the gazebo as the sun sets 
>and the swans gently paddle near the shore).  As more force is applied, the 
>balance of the spectra shifts upward, and additional partials begin to show 
>themselves, giving more brilliance.  At the maximum level of play, the
hammer 
>should reach the point of tone breaking up, but not go past it.  What I am 
>looking for is the palette.  Some pianists prefer the brilliance to be there 
>at the beginning, so I shoot the swans and dope on top, but not often. 
>    The factory doesn't take this amount of time, and when I was there, I
saw 
>them saturate the hammer to begin with, and then try to work backwards with 
>the needles.  This makes a fine sound, but it is not very durable,(imho).  I 
>have to live with these pianos,so I want to set them up for longevity as
well 
>as tone. 
>    When a pianist finds that melodic lines can be brought out with just a 
>little extra volume,(the more brilliant sound can be readily heard over the 
>harmony), the first impression is one of great control.  They like this, and 
>are glad to give me money. 
>   I only pour on Music Row. 
>Regards, 
>Ed Foote RPT
>>
>