Ronsen Bacon felt

[Erwinspiano at aol.com]

Hi Mark
  Remember that giant sucking sound Ross Perot made  famous?
  I think the hall can do this...just suck the sound away  from the player. 
IE. Rochester gallery.
    I rebuilt a Stwy D for the Modesto symphony  years ago & the sound at the 
piano is very satisfying.  Big powerful  clear.  As per RIc's description.  & 
it projects sound even more  glorious in the funky hall.  Go figure. BTW It 
has 12 year old Isaac  hammers with old American co.Stwy felt juiced up but the 
needles still go in  easily. SO cool
  I have also experienced your dilemma.  I think you  should go with your own 
advice about judicious shaping;.  The Abel  hammer  as far as I know uses 
Abel felt which is quite dense.The spot on  the hammer which, I believe will give 
more feed back at the bench  without  changing the hall experience is the 
little half moon spot under the strike  point.  Use finer and finer paper filing 
over the top ending with as fine  as 1000 grit.  & or lightly iron the felt.  
Too much & a nasty  sound appears.
  Let us know how it comes out.  Curiosity demands  an answer
  Dale

 
David, et al -
 
Makes perfect sense to me!
 
This is an interesting, timely subject.  Three months ago I  delivered a 
1920's Mason & Hamlin BB to a rather large church on which  I had installed, among 
other extensive work (including restringing), Abel  Concert grand hammers.  I 
have to say that this piano  projects better than any piano I have 
encountered in 30 years, with a  very robust, lush, round tone.  It's just magnificent, 
when you  are in the audience !  However, I had the occasion to perform  on 
this piano this past weekend for a music showcase, and I must admit that  from 
the player's standpoint, the piano lacks the presence that it projects to  the 
audience.  Although I have not received any complaints from the 3-4  regular 
players there (and 2 of them are quite accomplished) it was very  noticeable to 
me, and one of the other performers that evening mentioned it  too.  
 
This is not a hammer I consider overly soft, by any means, but  that is the 
perception AS THE PLAYER.  I welcome any input as to how to  remedy this 
quandry, as I am hesitant to make any significant voicing changes  to a hammer that 
sounds so wondrous to the listener that is more than 15 feet  away.
 
Any ideas?  My first impulse is to do some more judicious  shaping & fine 
sanding, as these hammers are rather generous in the  amount of felt they offer.  
Still, it would be a crime to alter this  singing tone to any significant 
degree...
 
Mark Potter



 
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