Boston Hammers, was: Interesting Piano Belly - Mehlin Grand

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David writes: 
>By the way, Steinway shoulders do not need to be completely solidified
>with hardener, nor do I think they should be.  In fact, if you keep the 
hardener
> off the shoulder and put it under the crown at the core of the hammer where
> it is needed, then as the hammer wears you are less likely to get the noise
> that comes from the strike point expanding into the rock hard shoulder.
> Of course, a periodic filing doesn't hurt either.

Greetings, 
    I was making my remarks totally irrespective of soundboard 
considerations.  The Steinway hammers were often completely juiced at the 
factory,though less now than in years past.  This included shoulders, core, 
crown, tails,etc.  
   I have found my optimum response from Steinway hammers to come from 
heavily lacquering the shoulders and allowing the hardener to wick towards 
the center.  If done heavily enough in the beginning, the crown will sit atop 
a wedge shaped area of hammer that is basically unlacquered,except right near 
the tip of the core wood.  The penetration from the shoulders, if done just 
right, will meet at the core and possibly a little higher. This arrangement 
firmly supports the felt between the core and the crown.  The crown itself 
will have no hardener on it.  From this beginning, a second, much ligher 
application of 4:1 lacquer allows me to subtly alter the response curve to 
suit the demands of the user.   
    The hammer thus treated will be too dull on first use, but will produce a 
bit of power with heavy blows, and with play, the compaction that occurs on 
the surface will begin to demonstrate a widening range of tonal quality.  I 
know of no way to harden a hammer to sound its best at the first note, so I 
prefer to set the hammer up so that it developes brilliance by being played.  
This results in a hammer that produces a mellow tone on pp playing, yet has a 
trace of high end to give the notes some definition.  As force increases, the 
spectra alters predictably, becoming more brilliant with increasing force, 
finally reaching the point of distortion only when the absolute maximum force 
is applied.  In this condition, the hammer shows the widest possible range of 
expression.  It will also give the longest service life before becoming 
uncontrolably harsh.  
   Some artists like that maximum brilliance to be easily reached, even at 
the expense of tonal nuance in the softer playing,(I am thinking of Horowitz, 
who's piano sounded brittle, even when he played it).  Others prefer to have 
a wide range of tonal control in the p-mf range, even if it means that they 
have to work a little harder to acheive full brilliance.  Very firm shoulders 
seem to make hitting either of these two goals a lot easier for me.  
   It is often said that no two Steinways sound alike, and I have come to 
believe that no two techs work on them the same way!  Wonder it these are 
connected.   
Regards, 
Ed Foote