Vodka is a better deal1 See articles by Susan Kline Joe Goss imatunr@srvinet.com www.mothergoosetools.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph Garrett" <joegarrett@earthlink.net> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 12:23 PM Subject: Re: Voicing a U-1 > 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} > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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