choosing replacement hammers

[Michael Magness]

On 8/28/07, Annie Grieshop <annie at allthingspiano.com> wrote:
>
> When replacing hammers on various pianos, how do you decide which
> brands/qualities/etc. to choose for any particular instrument?  Of course,
> I'm assuming that an older console might not get the same quality
> replacement hammers as a newer grand -- but maybe that's a
> penny-wise/pound-foolish approach.
>
> I'm faced with the possibility of several hammer replacement jobs in the
> near future and, so, would appreciate any enlightenment now.  Thanks.
>
> Annie Grieshop
> Hi Annie,


I was doing a little "housework" on my email account and noticed it had put
several posts in the spam file, I have no idea why! Yours was one of them,
although it's almost a month old now, I noted no one responded.
If it's not too late allow me to give my humble opinion. I have found for
most of my replacement needs, the Abel hammers both for price and quality,
fill the bill. They aren't too bright as amny new hammers can be, they
actually come pre-voiced, I believe is the term they use. So they have a
mellow tone right out of the box, no voicing necessary. I have used
primarily the Abel lites since my business has been redoing smaller grands
in my market although I have done a few uprights as well and can say the
vertical hammers are every bit as good as the grands. For both types I have
done my own boring, using the boring jig sold by Renner and tapered the
hammers and shaped the tails using the jigs I bought from Bill Spurlock, in
fact I hung the hammers using his hanging jig too. I also found in most of
the grand pianos it was overall a better practice to replace shanks and
flanges, the replacement costs of them versus the labor costs of
refurbishing knuckles, repinning/rebushing flanges, removal of glue and
knurling shanks can actually be less. One other thing I've discovered, the
old flange screws can be weak, I've had them snap off and they are a little
short for the new flanges, the recess in the flange isn't as deep. Schaff
sells new screws, slightly longer ones for $3 and change.
I hope this helped,
Mike
Of course for the high end pianos, Steinway, etc. there are the Renner
hammers





-- 
Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life
as a continuous learning experience.
- Denis Waitley


Michael Magness
Magness Piano Service
608-786-4404
www.IFixPianos.com
email mike at ifixpianos.com
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