Let's not confuse tension with stiffness of the felt. Ronsen's have plenty of tension but the stiffness may be lacking for some applications (and it depends on which felt and the pressing). Some hard pressed hammers have very little tension most of it having been cooked out of them like throwing your nice wool sweater into the hot drier. Of course whether the hammer sounds right depends on a number of factors including the match between hammer and piano and, of course, consumer taste. It depends on what you're after. I like Renners on the right piano and can't stand them on the wrong piano. Same is true with, say, Ronsen Bacon felt hammers. Personally I have a lower tolerance for a hammer that is too hard than for one that is too soft. Overly soft hammers which are typically cold pressed, almost always respond well to careful use of hardeners/densifiers/stiffeners, however you like to call them. Overly hard hammers often do not respond well to needling when the amount of needling required is excessive and on top of it they may be unstable. A hammer which is modestly too hard can be fine to work with and stable. A good example of the difference is those old Yamaha hammers used on the production pianos and the new hammers used on the CF or even the C7 pianos. Those older hammers simply don't respond to needling the same way the newer ones do even though the newer ones are still quite firm. So it also depends on the overall quality. Renner hammers vary so much that it's hard to lump them into one category. It's like saying, "I like (or don't like) jazz". There are too many different iterations and styles to not be more specific. Some of Renners hammers are ridiculously hard and some are firm but nice to work with. Same with Abel. We do have a lot of choices now, which is nice, but also a lot of uncertainty about just what you're going to get when you order something using only the manufacturer as your criteria. Anyway, attend my seminar next year (date undetermined) on choosing replacement hammers. All the criteria and methods needed to make a sound decision about what to use will be covered--time allowing. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Ilvedson Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 9:08 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Follow up report on BB Mason and Weickert felt Hi David, I'm seeing a lot of Ronsen hammers these days and I'm not sure I'm that impressed...I am impressed with some Renner hammers and others and have to wonder if something is missing when you don't build that tension into the hammer. The necessity of opening the shoulders to make a cushion and the solidity of the low shoulders...I'm just posing some questions for discussion since the Ronsen seems to get so much press from those who use it... David Ilvedson, RPT Pacifica, CA 94044 ----- Original message ---------------------------------------- From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos at comcast.net> To: pianotech at ptg.org Received: 12/15/2009 9:00:16 PM Subject: Re: [pianotech] Follow up report on BB Mason and Weickert felt >In know you're not asking me but my experience has been that, no they don't >need any more cushion. The shoulders already have enough give--sometimes >too much. If anything they need a more solid footing below the shoulder so >that the flexible shoulder has something to spring against. Thus the >periodic need to strengthen the lower part of the hammer on some sets. >David Love >www.davidlovepianos.com >-----Original Message----- >From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf >Of David Ilvedson >Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 8:40 PM >To: pianotech at ptg.org >Subject: Re: [pianotech] Follow up report on BB Mason and Weickert felt >I find it interesting that you didn't need to do any shoulder needling. >The "cushion" is there already? You immediately had projection...tone >above the strings? >David Ilvedson, RPT >Pacifica, CA 94044 >----- Original message ---------------------------------------- >From: erwinspiano at aol.com >To: pianotech at ptg.org >Received: 12/15/2009 8:31:08 PM >Subject: [pianotech] Follow up report on BB Mason and Weickert felt >> As some may recall I reporting that we were doing a modest face lift to a >1976 >>Mason Hamlin BB. The dreaded Aeolian years. >> We applied two new top sections of bridge cap and rehabbed the pins in the >rest of >>the bridge. We replaced Shanks and installed the New Ronsen Weicker felted >>hammers. The piano is done and the tonal results are very pleasing. The >teacher in >>charge of getting it done is very talented young man with good repertoire >and he >>was greatly impressed with the dynamics power and clarity. >> The final voicing protocol other than careful strike weight prep and >filing was >>embarrassingly easy for the result. In the bass I added some 12 to 1 lac >acetone to >>the mono-chords only for a bit more initial boost and four drops on the >strike point >>from note 9 thru 21. The tenor was three drops on the top of each up to >f-3 and >>nada, zip, nothing from there to the top. Not exazctly filling the hammer >with lacquer >>eh? No needling at all. Impossible? >> I could not ask for better result and with minimul efforts. I've always >considered >>that the Mason Piano needed a fairly stiff hammer and these were dense for >sure >>but needles are no problem but presently it needs nothing. After some play >in time >>I'll post back with a further review. I've just recieved another identical >set & they >>have the same density, shape and weight as the first set. >> Kudos to our hammer head ally...Ray. >> It occurs to me that some may weary of the hammer felt news, but then >that's >>what the list is for and also what the delete button is for. >> I hope no one is snoring >> You have my open invitation If you are in the area to stop by and enjoy >the sound >>for your self! >> Kindest regards >> Dale Erwin >>WWW.Erwinspiano.com
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