Unlacquered S&S hammers: was Re: Tensioned hammers and"the staple"

[Ron Nossaman]

>The original question was whether or not heavy filing off the crown was
>necessary on a S&S hammer in order to produce tone without lacquer.
>
>David Love

And the answer involves another question. Produce tone on what? Del said
most all hammers were too hard for what he was doing, meaning with his
soundboard and scaling designs. On another type of soundboard and scaling
design approach, including Steinway's the S&S hammers will be too soft
without lacquer. I'm installing soundboards something similar to what Del
is doing, and I often have to needle these soft hammers down some through a
lot of the mid tenor because they're too bright. Sometimes a very light
application of lacquer is necessary in the last octave, but sometimes not.
The difference is in the soundboard design, not the hammers. With a
efficient soundboard and string scale, very little hammer voicing is necessary.

Ron N