I have heard from some that an alcohol/water solution applied to the shoulders of the hammer will loosen the fibers of the hammer and bring the tone down. Has anyone had any success with this technique? Are there other ways of really taking the brightness out of the hammer that is more permanent than needling? Any ideas, suggestions, and comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your comments! Corte Swearingen Associate PTG Member Corte, I use two methods: 1: Denatured Alcohol and Distilled Water. I SATURATE the hammers, with the exception of the top 5 or 6 hammers, (this depends on what the initial sound of them is.). The one drawback to this method is that it tends to distort the shape of the hammer, (front to back view will be narrow at the top of the hammer!). As long as you don't have a WIDE string grouping, this is not a problem, to me. 2. Linen or Cotton cloth and Hammer Iron. I wet the cloth, lay it on the hammer and iron away. I've found this to be my first choice, of late. It does about the same thing as the alcohol & water, but is less dramatic in it's effect. In other words, it's more controlable. This method will, also, distort the hammer as the alcohol and water does, but less so. OH! An important thing: I have installed a Rheostat, inline, on my hammer iron, so that I don't overdo the heat! Remember, we are ironing WOOL!<G> I hope this helps. Anything to bring down the "ball-peen hammers" is worth the effort. Once the initial "softening" is done, then smoothing out the tone is done with needles. Best Regards, Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon) Been There, Didn't Like It, So I'm Here To Stay! [G}
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