Suggest they put on a new set of hammers. Not that difficult or expensive, especially if they are keeping the piano anyway for sentimental reasons. The biggest problem doing it on a spinet (drop action) is removing the action. Otherwise use a set of Ronsen hammers Weickert or Wurzen which will produce a warmish tone and might need a bit of hardening but not much. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com On Jan 5, 2011, at 6:49 PM, Kurt Baxter wrote: > I know, the correct answer is "none", but hear me out... > > I just did an evaluation on an actually rather pretty Winter spinet > from the 40s (post ivory, pre plastic elbows). The piano has > sentimental value, has been in the family a long time, and was > refinished (skillfully) by the wife's father. It's one of those > ornate "grand lyre" style cases with beautifully book-matched semi- > burled walnut. > > Besides a handful of other more minor problems, the big one is that > the hammer felt is falling off. A few hammers have been replaced > (poorly), some have been "repaired" with a thumb tack, about 6 are > missing felt completely, and quite a few more are starting to tear > off. I told the customer that the piano cannot be made playable > without new hammers, and they want to go ahead with the repairs. > > The customer is pleased with the tone/touch of the piano as-is, so > my goal is to match the character and weight of the original hammers > as closely as possible. > > Will I be able to buy hammers that are small/soft enough to be > appropriate? Cold or hot pressed? > > Are there any unique problems involved in rehammering a spinet? > > I get the impression spinets seldom (if ever) get new hammers, so I > was wondering if there was any reason besides the obvious "costs > more than the piano is worth" issue, which is not a relevant factor > in this case. > > > > > -kurt > > > >
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