Alcohol and hard hammers

[Geoff Sykes]

Tomorrow I have to go up against a new, out of the box, upright piano with
ROCK hard hammers. I have been asked to voice the hammers down significantly
in order to reduce the unpleasant brittle harsh cold sound. Last time I had
to do this I just aggressively needled away for a long time. Very
aggressively with lots of broken needles. Even after I was "finished" I was
still unable to get a needle in more than about 1mm. 
 
Not too long ago, on the list, I read that treating hard hammers with a
little alcohol would help un-compact the felt. However, these are new
hammers and are probably hard because of a hardening treatment. Today's
question is: Would a small alcohol treatment help? If not, what would you
suggest?
 
-- Geoff Sykes
-- Assoc. Los Angeles
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