[pianotech] Weickert special felt update

Sat Feb 14 15:47:51 PST 2009

Ed,

Very useful, thoughtful, and I greatly appreciate the frankness.

Nick Gravagne, RPT
Piano Technicians Guild
Member Society Manufacturing Engineers
Voice Mail 928-476-4143

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of A440A at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 4:35 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Weickert special felt update

Nick writes:

<it
seems that a professional discussion of the relative experiences and
anecdotal input on these matters along with specific voicing techniques
would be worthwhile. Is a consensus of thought developing out there?<<

          I don't think there will ever be consensus, but there are
certainly 
choices.  I have many sets of Renner Blues out in my clientele, and they can

be made to sound good, however, the amount of needle work required is 
excessive, and they are simply too heavy to be brought to near original
weights when 
working on older Steinways. I can do it, but geez, the amount of time
trimming 
them makes them expensive.  They do allow voicing as they age, which the 
Steinway hammers don't, given that they are so full of lacquer that when
filed once 
or twice there is very little to work with.     

>>Many experienced techs are loathe to use S&S hammers, either in the past
or
present, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is they feel they
cannot get the bite they are looking for. <<

>>Other fine techs take the opposite view by only using S&S as they feel
they
can't get the warmth or stability they are looking for. You and others have
explained quite well the merits of the new Weickerts and I am very
appreciative of that.<< 

    Add me to to the list on the basis of one set of Weickerts.  They are 
soft, but the potential is obvious.  I think the best sound comes from a
hammer 
that is slightly too soft to begin with and is played in.  Something about
the 
resilient combination of elasticity and hardness allows for the malleable
tone 
players like. 

>> when it comes time to choose hammers for
performance venue instruments such as Bs and Ds. We all know that such
pianos need to bite as well as carry, and that most performers are going to
voice frustration if this isn't the case. << 

       I agree that performers like to feel the power, however, I have heard

too many pianos that sound like muscular workhorses on the stage, but
halfway 
out in the hall they sound thin and harsh. The artist on the stage feels
like 
they are just knocking the walls out of the hall, but that is just what they

hear while they are right there by the instrument.  There is a profound 
difference between loud and powerful.  It takes a softer hammer to produce
the lower 
end of the tonal spectrum in a note and a firmer hammer to produce the
higher 
end which gives the note definition.  It is the combination that makes for a

powerful projection.  These Weickerts seem to have that combo built in.   

 >>I would hope for professional replies, though I am aware that in the
world
of Lists and Groups many believe that a no-holds-barred approach is the most
democratic, informative and should be considered the norm.<< 

     Hmm, Ok, I guess that makes me democratic.  I will never use Steinway 
hammers again, since consistancy is non-existant and the last two sets had
been 
lacquered into oblivion.  Some previous sets were marshmallows.   Mis-shapen

felt, weights all over the place, etc. For this I have to pay a premium
price 
for the name only?  
    For many years it was understood that the Steinway piano needed to be 
broken in to sound its best.  The desire for instant gratification may be
behind 
the philosophy of hardening them to sound good when new, but the service
life 
is pretty short in comparison to a softer hammer that is played for a while.

    The current hammers bear no resemblance to the originals I am taking
off, 
so what is the point of calling them "authentic"? When you change knuckle 
distance to accomodate a heavier hammer, the touch and response are not
going to 
be the same as the original design, and the original design is what the
brand 
built its reputation on...
    The Weickert hammers I have on this 1927 M are the first hammers I have 
used that sounded so good right out of the box.  I will be adding some
lacquer 
to the top octave and the bottom two octaves, but the middle is already near

perfect, needing only play to be optimum.  I can't say anything about 
durability, but the sound, oh the sound.  
Regards,

Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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