Dale, I don't believe there is a hearing loss problem. I know what I am after with tonality, especially with my own piano. And, I might have enough musical knowledge to know that some after market hammers are weak in tone... and they never improve. So that means to me that at some musical level the hammer will not be satisfactory. Yes, thanks to Messrs Suzuki, Yamamoto, Haruda and Goka from Kawai in Hamamatsu, I know what my piano can produce. I know the building process and the voicing processes. I have also replaced hammers with factory duplicates, and I have never needed to let the hammer mature. My clients would find this unacceptable. Fitting and voicing, and follow up service. And btw a few other factories do the same. I wanted a better quality hammer other than ordering Kawai originals. As per a balanced tone spectrum, all I can add is that if it is easy to play softly and difficult to play loudly, there is a voicing issue. New pianos in factories also do not have this problem. At the present time, the original hammers are not too hard, considering I can remember the sounds from my training in Japan. I could also go to the local Kawai dealer and compare the two pianos.. and they are very similiar. I am replacing the butts because the synthetic leather on the butt and catcher is unsatisfactory, causing regulation problems. Might as well replace the hammers I thought. I asked the list for a recommended quality hammer. Your opinions may be different to mine, and I respect that, but choosing to write "verbiage about power etc" is not respectful to me. Regards Brian To: pianotech at ptg.org Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 12:41:56 -0500 From: erwinspiano at aol.com Subject: Re: [pianotech] choice of hammers Good points David With so much verbiage about POWER I was wondering if there was a hearing loss issue? How about a balaced tone spectrum. Oh well, we all have a different opinion about that! Don't we? The main complaint about new pianos from any continent is that they sounded ok when delivered and then after the break in period and the string marks appear in(a year or so) the underlying Petrified felt soon reveals the sound of shattering glass. Quality Hammers do or should be allowed to develop or the end result will be this complaint. No bias intended. ... sure Dale Dale Hammers need playing time to develop. Power and volume out of the box with lousy tone might be telling you something. Nothing wrong with wanting a hammer that doesn’t require “juicing”. Don’t forget to consider weight in the formula for power. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: Brian Wilson <wilsonpiano at hotmail.com> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Fri, Dec 4, 2009 1:38 am Subject: Re: [pianotech] Choice of hammers Will, David and JD, Thanks for all your replies. The reason I wrote that I would probably purchase hammers from Germany was that I was hoping that some one would recommend an off the shelf item from either the Abel or Renner catalogue. However,there is more sense in ordering from USA for two reasons first being the exchange rate is better and secondly I can receive parts by USPS in 5 working days. Germany is different to be polite. Air Mail takes on average 4 weeks. I have tried Abel hornbeam nonimpregnated and also the mahogany non impregnated (from the website) and I have found them to be too soft. After reshaping and fitting to strings, yes they produce a nice tone, but no power.I have tried the grand hammers for Yamaha and to me they were good. They did require alot of needling, however they did have power. I haven't tried any Renner hammers lately other than working on voicing in factories. I will invesigate the advice given with the US Renner and the Brooks Abel hammers,and thanks to JD I will fire off an email to Abel I have also tried some sample hammers like the ones I described earlier. The Japanese do provide power and volume however the tone is not very good. I assume the short fibres are part of the problem. The Abels I have tried produce a nice tone, but the forte to fortissimo is just too hard to produce. I just don't like "juice".... been brainwashed by some Germans. I will do more investigating, and thanks once again for the advice. Brian From: davidlovepianos at comcast.net To: pianotech at ptg.org Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 07:09:53 -0800 Subject: Re: [pianotech] Choice of hammers Not sure why you would order from Germany. If you want Abel order from Brooks if you want Renner order from Lloyd Meyer at Renner USA or Rick Baldassin. There is some variation in the Renner Wurzen pressings, some are softer (or harder) than others. You can ask Rick to probe a couple of hammer samples from the set and tell him you want firmer or not however you choose. Brooks will give you a rundown on which Abel hammer might suit you, there are a number of different ones. Tell him you want a firmer one but be careful what you ask for. As to which to choose that’s an impossible question to ask us—although I’m sure people won’t hesitate to express their opinions. Both (or all) are good hammers each one with a slightly different texture. Since it’s your piano sampling is easier and you might consider it. Brooks is usually quite amenable to sending samples—describe to him what you’re looking for and ask him to send something one around note 40 and one around note 60—that’s all you really need though it can be difficult to extrapolate the entire set from a couple of samples. Still it’s better than listening to us throw out opinions. Renner is probably willing as well. One thing to consider (which I think is important) is the hammer’s shape. Some hammers come out of the press with the shape more like the small end of the egg and some like the larger end of the egg (a sort of Lilliputian dilemma). Shape matters on many pianos, in my view, and you may want to take that into consideration. The Renner hammers tend to be rounder (large end of the egg). David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Brian Wilson Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 10:27 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] Choice of hammers Now it is time you ask for advice. Kawai US-5X upright which I think is 125 cm 49 inches? The client is me. I am installing new butts and flanges etc. I want a good hammer and the price is not important to me. Do I fit Renner with the Wurzen felt or Abel Wurzen or what? I do prefer a hard (er) hammer and I would prefer to voice down than (no offence) pour lacquer into the hammer head. Unless I get a better option I will order from Germany. The originals are mahogany core with non impregnated felt.(even though Japan poured lacquer into some areas in production. been there seen that, do not want to copy) Personally the japanese hammers are a little boring (and some Abels are TOO soft) and I know I could improve the sound with a better piano, but she who must be obeyed won't let me .. :-) Thanks Brian Wilson Land of Oz Find out how Use Messenger in your Hotmail inbox Check out the latest features today Get more out of Hotmail = = _________________________________________________________________ Use Messenger in your Hotmail inbox Find out how http://windowslive.ninemsn.com.au/hotmail/article/823454/web-im-for-hotmail-is-here -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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