Big hammers

[Richard Brekne]

Hmm...

Thing is that Steinway is pretty picky about establishing a 48-47 gram 
down weight... 36 or so gram Balance weight... When they take care of a 
hammer change they are carefull to duplicate hammer weights... at least 
the Hamburg factory is.  So... if it plays heavy and these are origional 
hammers... then perhaps there are other issues that are causeing the 
weight. You seem to allude to a lack of maintainance... so by all means 
clean up all friction points to get between 10 and 15 grams for each 
key, and make a good regulation before concluding anything definitive 
about action weight. 

Big hammers... been a lot of talk this way and that.  I think it pretty 
much boils down to that bigger hammers can help... but only to a point.  
I dont really think getting heavier then I previously mentioned is a 
good idea.  I know some have gone to extremes and added as much as 3 
grams to already heavy hammers, reporting <<no problems>>... but I 
simply cant imagine that kind of weight functioning well or feeling 
good.  David Love and Andre expressed it well enough... place priority 
on the playability of the instrument first.  You can gjerne use 
reasonbly heavy hammers in the doing...  but just so.  Any extra umff 
you need is best made up by some of the other means mentioned.  But a 
good regulation with fine hammers can make a world of difference alone 
as well. 

Might I just add trying out a set of Ronsen Wurzens, or what Andre can 
get you from this side of the pond would be well worth your while.  I've 
tried a lot of hammers through the years... and simply dont find 
anything to compare.  JMV.

Cheers
RicB


Barbara Richmond wrote:

> Hi Dale and Ric,
>  
> Yes, they are Steinway hammers from whenever.  They just struck me as 
> being bigger than any I had ever seen on the Ds that I've worked 
> on.  I have a #0 Steinway D hammer down in my collection of 
> left-overs that isn't nearly as big as these.  You bet the action is 
> heavy and I do expect a geometry problem (besides that there are 
> other problems).  My original question, since these hammers were 
> bigger than any I had experienced (the treble looked pretty big to me, 
> too), was, would big hammers (like these--whether or not you think 
> they're big) significantly increase output in an acoustically 
> challenged hall?  
>  
> I'm not at liberty to go into the details at this time, but I can tell 
> you this:  When I first saw this instrument and took the pictures 
> (trying out my new camera), I wasn't expecting to be the person 
> working on it.  I'll find out in a couple weeks or so if the project 
> gets the go ahead.  If it is approved, I'll go back and and analyze it 
> all and then I can give you all the data you want or at the end, just 
> tell you how it worked out.  :-)
>  
> I really do appreciate all the comments and suggestions.  I'm sorry I 
> don't have all the technical details at this time.
>  
> Barbara Richmond
>  
>  
> PS  Ric, I think the picture must be distorted.  I *hope* I would have 
> noticed those knuckles--but then again, I'm due for new glasses (it's 
> that over 40 thing)! 
>