Hammers

[Willis P Snyder]

Dear Ray,

Read your E-mail on the Ptg web-site.
There are so many factors involved in the final sound of a piano and a
lot of this has been missed on the discussions.
First of all, We have always believed that the quality of the Felt and
the resiliencyof the Felt were of the
utmost importance in producing good tone.
The amount of Felt from the top of the molding to the top of the Hammer
also of great importance On a soft and medium hammer "blow" we really
only play on the top 1/4" inch of Felt, a FF blow will play !/2 " into
the Felt and  a FFF "blow" will play close to the top of the molding and
onto the molding.
A lot of Hammers made today have short Felt on the top of the molding and
as a result the dynamic range
of the tone is shortened . Some of the older manufacturers would not glue
the felt onto the molding at the top
of the molding (about a 1/4 inch) this would lessen "collision" noise in
the tone on a very hard blow of the Hammer. Cut some of the older Baldwin
& Steinway Hammers straight down from the top of the Hammer head and you
will see this.
There is also the factor that piano Hammers should be "played up" before
any voicing corrections are attempted.
Many other factors influence the the tone such as type of Sound board,
level of strings, uniform distances
from Strings to Keybed, regulation and most of all Sustain time of the
piano There is a lot more to this
subject, but the above is the way I was trained and experienced. Your
work has always been very good.
Best regards,
Willis P. Snyder
.