steinway over hardened hammer

[richard.ucci@att.net]

Horace, thanks for the advice, would steaming the hammer be in order? I would have to use a steam kettle( don't yet have an iron,getting one next week )in the clients home.

RU


> 
> Hi, Richard,
> 
> Quoting richard.ucci@att.net:
> 
> > Horace,
> > 
> > I believe it is acetone. It was the standard hardener sold by
> > Schaff,undiluted.
> 
> I was afraid of that.  This limits your options pretty severely.  Basically 
> to two, with the main differences being how much time your (and the owner) 
> have and the non-musical state of things.
> 
> If you have time, that is, if you can arrange to make a couple of trips 
> back, I would try dripping some acetone into the strike point and allowing 
> it to dampen, but not deeply penetrate the hammer.  Put a piece of aluminum 
> foil over the hammer to retard evaporation a bit.  With luck, if the hammer 
> is not too saturated, you should be able to leach some of the hardener out 
> of the immediate area of the strike point (and farther down the shoulders 
> of the hammer).  Depending on what the outcome of the first application 
> shows, you might either then go to needles or use a second application of 
> acetone.
> 
> If you do not have time (and, these days, who does?), you can try to 
> reestablish some resiliancy in the crown area of the hammer.  Depending on 
> how hard the hammer has become, you might be able to use 1, 2, or 3 
> needles, roughly 3/8" long and work carefuly to restore things.
> 
> Hammers need to work like progressive-rate coil springs.  This means that 
> they must be increasingly dense (less resiliant/pliable) as one moves from 
> the surface toward the molding.  Doing too much, too deeply destroys the 
> core of the tone leaving you with mush.  Doing too much, too shallow leaves 
> a hammer which may sound OK at pp/p/mp, pretty blasty/nasty at FF and have 
> very little range inbetween.
> 
> At this point, you might want to be prepared to brighten up some of the 
> surrounding hammers (a small amount) to help with evening things out.
> 
> As a FYI based on years of painful experience, I virtually never "voice" 
> only a single note, or selected notes for a client.  In almost every case 
> that I have been asked to do that, the real request is to make the 
> instrument compensate for the technical shortcomings of the player.  Ask 
> them to play several different pieces, scales, perhaps some etudes.  That 
> way, you can get a much better picture than if they always are playing with 
> their fourth finger on, say, a leading tone which harmonically needs to be 
> accented, but for which they do not have the strength.  Obviously, I might 
> wind up doing precisely what they have asked for, but only after I have 
> worked out for myself that making the change makes sense for the instrument 
> in question.  
> 
> Also endemic with many owners of smaller S&S models is the need for the 
> poor 5'7" M to sound like the ~9' D they used to play in their 
> undergraduate days/whatever.  It simply isn't going to happen; and getting 
> into that is pretty much always a losing proposition for the technician.
> 
> Hope there is some help in there for you.
> 
> Best.
> 
> Horace
> 
> > 
> > 
> > > 
> > > Hi, Richard,
> > > 
> > > A little more information, please:
> > > 
> > > What kind of hardener did you use, what did you use as a carrier
> > (thinner), 
> > > what was the approximate strength of the solution, etc.?
> > > 
> > > There are a number of approaches, most of which will depend on this
> > kind of 
> > > detail.
> > > 
> > > Thanks.
> > > 
> > > Horace
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Quoting richard.ucci@att.net:
> > > 
> > > > Hi Folks,
> > > > 
> > > > Tuned an "m" today and the client wanted the a-440 note a little
> > louder.
> > > > Used some hammer hardener ,about eight drops from hypo oiler on
> > > > shoulders( I was pressed for time to get to next tuning) and
> > striking
> > > > point. Hammer got VERY LOUD... I am going back tomorrow to bring it
> > down.
> > > > Any suggestions?
> > > > 
> > > > Rick Ucci/Ucci Piano 
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > 
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> 
> 
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