Hammers: Reality Check

[David Love]

Sucked into the latest Werzenmania and with a beautiful D in the shop, I
sampled a few different hammers in different sections of the piano to
compare and contrast.  The piano has a set of Steinway hammers on it,
lacquered with 4:1 in the tenor and bass applied from the side of the
hammer (as I usually do) directly under the strike point forming a circle
that spans from the tip of the moulding to about 1/8" from the strike point
at the high tenor and to about 1/4" from the strike point in the low bass. 
In the capo section a 3:1 solution was applied from the side in similar
fashion but allowed to get all the way to the strike point by about A5 and
generously over the top by C8.  I put on some Ronsen Werzen samples as well
as some Abel Selects that Pianotek sells exclusively.  It is a much softer
Abel than you typically see, not overpressed or overheated as some are and
a very nicely made hammer.  All three hammers produced a very nice tone
with similar characteristics.  In the tenor section (A3 - C4) the sound was
warm with some power but not at all distorting--very similar in the balance
of overtones produced.  The differences were minimal and with a little
judicious crown voicing they could be made to be pretty much
indistinguishable.  Any small differences that I could hear were more
likely attributable to differences in weight as I didn't try to even them
out.  In the first capo section (G5 - B5) the differences were also
minimal.  Granted, the Steinway took a bit more work to get there, filing,
lacquering (not to mention a bit more expense, though the Abel Select set
runs about $325.), but in the end, all three hammers produced a very nice
and very similar tone.  The Abel select was the most dense out of the box
in this region, but not by much.  With a bit of voicing, the differences
were also minimal if even recognizable.  Higher up the Ronsen needed some
help to achieve the density that both the Abel and lacquered Steinway had. 
Needling to release tension toward the crown was not effective and so a
light juicing was needed.  In the end, they again sounded very similar in
attack and sustain at all reasonable levels of playing.  How the hammers
develop is, of course, an issue that was not addressed in my short
experiment.   Bottom line, there are a number of ways to skin a cat.  What
I want most is a hammer that is produced consistently from set to set (and
from year to year).  I don't like surprises with a set of hammers and it's
inconsistency that disturbs me the most.  The Ronsens are a nice hammer, so
were the Abels.  If I thought I could get a better tone than the Steinway
hammer that I put on there I'd go ahead and change it--I've done it before.
But for the life of me, I couldn't find any reason and I'm not bothered by
a bit of lacquer in a hammer--sometimes, in fact, it can be used to create
a bit of a shine in the upper end that can be desirable.  So, choose you
weapon, handle it skillfully and you'll likely be satisfied with the
result.  Of course, having a receptive belly always helps--with beer too.  


(I didn't have a Renner hammer handy to try, btw, sorry about that!)

David Love
davidlovepianos@earthlink.net