Hammer re-facing and blow distance

[annie at allthingspiano.com]

Talking with customers about hammer condition really CAN be fun!  Most of
them are so excited to see what's going on inside that big wooden thing.

After the fist/fingers demonstration, I also explain that a piano note
contains lots of tones, just like sunlight contains many colors.  Then I
play the overtone series, as an arpeggio, starting at C2 and explain that
all those tones are "inside" C2, but that different parts are more
noticeable at different times.

I play A#4, C5, D5, E5 a "chord" and explain that you're hearing more of
that when the hammers are hard and grooved, as opposed to the C2-C3 octave
when the hammers are softer and well-shaped.  (Forgive me if my octave
numbers are off -- I'm playing the tabletop and counting....)

And now they understand their piano's bright/hard sound as something that
can actually be controlled, rather than just how it is.  I don't always
get a voicing job out of the demonstration, but I do tend to get a call
within a couple weeks to do it.

For regulation, I first ask if their piano is their partner.  (They
usually laugh.)  And then I ask whether they can play their piano softly
without having to really concentrate and be careful about how they do it. 
(And they wonder how I knew....)  Even before I open the piano, I often
play a bit and then tell them what we're likely to see when I do open it. 
A little magic never hurts, right? <g>

Annie G.

>
> One thing I find helps persuade people about re-facing is that they can
> SEE
> what I'm talking about. I use my flashlight or whatever, to get a good
> light, and show them the hammer surfaces and explain that over time the
> strings cut into the felt like cheesewires, and they can see the effect
> for
> themselves.
>
> Then I explain using my a fist as "hammer" and three fingers as "strings"
> how instead of a clean blow, the sides of the groves can "stroke" the
> strings, and the bottoms of the grooves can be at different depths (if the
> customer is technically-minded, I explain about phase cancellation). But
> the
> main thing is, they can SEE the problem.
>
> Best,
>
> David.
>
>
> "I'm curious why you separate out regulating lost motion from the rest of
> regulating tasks. Just because you have filed the hammers, doesn't dictate
> regulating lost motion. However, I do agree that lost motion regulation on
> a
> long-neglected piano is often one of the most beneficial single regulating
> steps".
>
>
>