Hard Hammers

[Richard Brekne]

Hi.

I had quite a bit of experience trying out steaming methods a few years 
back and arrived finally at the conclusion that steaming was not an 
option. One thing I noticed is that hammers seemed clearly to wear out 
faster... deeper grooves appeared quite quickly in relation to other 
approaches.  Nor did I get the feeling that the voicing was stable.  
Often I could get a very very pleasing sound immediately, only to find 
the work deteriorate some few weeks later. If you have hammers that are 
rocks and simply can not be needled acceptably... I'd advise changing 
rather then steaming or soaking.

Voicing by needles that has a long lasting affect is in my experience 
contingent upon how well you needle up the shoulders... how much of a 
cushion you create as it were.  You want to bring up as much an elastic 
effect to the sound as you can without affecting the attack sound much 
first... some folks refer to this as building up the power of the 
hammer.  Once you have a nice ... shall we say... <<boingy>> elasticity 
to the sound, then addressing the attack sound can be done to take care 
of a pianists comments that go along the lines of brightness, glassy... 
etc.  You will find that with a good cushion, attack voicing will be 
very stable.

Of course... any piano that is used aggressively 30 hours a week will 
wear out quickly... and not just in relation to voicing. But if you are 
witnessing an instrument that only seems to experience hammers harding 
up with moderate use after 6 months, and things like key bushings and 
other wear and tear parts do not seem to be similarly affected... then 
perhaps its your general needling approach that needs adjusting.

Cheers
RicB


    I have been tuning a piano twice a year for about 3 years. About
    once a year my customer complains that the piano is too bright, so I
    voice it down and make it a little more mellow than he likes because
    he say it will be bright again in about 6 months. He wants something
    more permanent. I hate to change these hammers because they still
    look good. What's the consensus on steaming? Does it last?

    Al Guecia