Hammer Types

[Overs Pianos]

David,

I agree with your observations - good post.

>In this case, with the 175, we were working with one soundboard and scale
>design--basically a lightish s/b and low tension scale.  The results that
>were less pleasing were with the harder hammers and can best be described by
>the peak of the attack envelope being too far above the ensuing level of
>sustain.  IN the bass, the harder hammer produced a weaker fundamental with
>poorer pitch recognition and a less round tone.  Overall, the attack was too
>percussive and it created the perception of poorer sustain because of that
>difference.  The Wurzen hammers had a similar effect but to a somewhat
>lesser degree than the Abels.  In all fairness, a couple of the listeners
>(there were probably 8 - 10 people who listened to the results) did prefer
>the Wurzen hammer (no one preferred the Abels) but only after fairly heavy
>voicing.  The level was still somewhat above the Ronsen Bacon felt hammers.
>While it may be possible to voice any of those hammers down to the level
>where they needed to be to match the s/b string scale, one point of the
>exercise was to try and determine which hammer in its most raw form was the
>best fit for this piano.  Also, there is a difference between taking a
>harder hammer and voicing it down and having a hammer that starts at that
>level to begin with.  Perhaps it has to do with the relationship between
>density, flexibility, resilience and tension.  A heavily needled hammer has
>different balance of those characteristics than one that is that level of
>softness to begin with. 
>
>Another of my goals was to work with the hammers only in so far as they
>could reasonably be dealt with in a production setting.  So while I did
>voice the Abel and Ronsen Wurzen (and eventually voiced them quite heavily),
>I tried to keep my initial treatment to a point that one could reasonably
>expect the factory voicer to do on each piano before leaving the factory.
>The 190, btw, with a slightly higher tension scale seemed more tolerant of a
>harder hammer even though the Bacon felt hammer was still plenty to drive
>it. 
>
>I think you can draw the conclusion that generally speaking the lower the
>tension and lighter (or less stiff) the board the softer the hammer that is
>required.  One problem is that not all scales match the boards they are on.
>You see low tension scales on a relatively stiff boards, high tension scales
>on loose boards and all kinds of combinations both by design and because of
>changes in the s/b assembly over time.  In those cases it's not clear to me
>what the best hammer will be as soundboard response will vary and in
>different ways.  In those cases, sampling will have a better chance of
>steering you in the right direction. 
>
>David Love
>davidlovepianos at comcast.net
>www.davidlovepianos.com


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