Hammer Types

[Ric Brekne]

David Stanwood should be on your list of folks to talk to on this one.  
For my part a mid top is as heavy as I'll go and I almost never select 
more then top mediums. Leverage can be accomplished several ways and 
should be fairly carefully thought through.  Moving things around and 
changing sizes of things like knuckles also affects speeds / power / and 
distance ratios of the parts involved and the action as a whole. So how 
much help ???  I havnt' done enough redesigning via Stanwood methodology 
to be certain of a good answer yet.  Generally, I like to use the 
heaviest hammer the action as is will allow for whilst keeping me at or 
under Stanwoods recommended maximum front weights.  I'm still not a fan 
of assist mechanisms when it comes right down to it.

Mass / soundlevel conection as I worded it.... just claims that the 
bigger mass that hits the string the larger the sound created (all else 
being equal).  Lots of arguments back and forth on this.... 
qualifications etc etc ad absurdum.  My experience is tho that within 
reasonable limits... the basic postulate holds true.

Cheers
RicB



     > Hey there Barbara
    snip

     > If you need a BIG sound, you need to go to a bigger (heavier)
    hammer and
     > you will need to make sure the leverage of the instrument can
    handle your
     > choice. Ok.. thats a statement as if of fact... and I know there
    are folks
     > who dispute the mass/soundlevel conection.  But my experience is
    such.

    I would like to hear more about the mass/sound level connection. 
    What would
    be the heaviest SW you've ever gone with?  (Yeah, I know it has to
    work with
    the rest of the action geometry.)  I can't remember from the last
    time I was
    testing parts on a D.  How much help (or not) was a bigger knuckle?

    Barbara