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<DIV> <FONT size=3> David</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3> I wasn't going to get into this but I've followed=
this
thread & I totally concur with your previous post & the one below &a=
mp;
have experienced the effects you chronicle below with hard pressed hamm=
ers.
Usually the difficulty is on older flatter board & my experience ha=
s
been with Abel & Renner USA type hammers. These older boards often have =
no
use for the kind of hardness inherent in these brands. Even massive needling=
can't seem to arrive at a tone acceptable to my ear or that of the customer =
in
these cases. One brand doesn't fit all.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3> David I. I tend to agree with you about voicing
stability of less "tensioned" hammers holding up. Since they are inherently =
more
flexible,resilient,less tensioned, whatever the middle of the hammer i=
sn't
frozen & still acts springy. I've witnessed this at CSU Sacramento =
in a
most dramatic way.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3> 2 Mason As, one with Isaac hammers & on=
e with
a Renner hammer. Both in practice rooms side by side both played umteen hour=
s a
day for 7 years. The renners have massive string grooves & are wor=
n
out & the Isaac barely shows string grooves & sounds great.</FONT></=
DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3> Both were voiced when installed. One of many
experiences with this. My friend Peter Clark is a master voicer. You decide =
fact
of fiction</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3> Dale</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=
=2>The
evidence of different soundboards (and soundboards in various<BR>condition=
s)
needing hammers of varying densities is so abundant in the<BR>piano circle=
s
that I run in that I don't even know what to say to those<BR>who are
interested in this possibility except try it for yourself and<BR>see. =
;
You wouldn't put a very hard Renner hammer designed for a<BR>Boesendorfer =
on a
piano that would sound best with a Ronsen soft Bacon<BR>felt hammer--and t=
here
are many such examples out there. A lengthy<BR>explanation as to why=
that might be is more than I am prepared to get<BR>into at this point but =
in
as much as new soundboards require different<BR>types of hammers (think Ya=
maha
hammers on a NY Steinway or vice versa)<BR>so will old ones. An old =
ugly
Yamaha that probably sounded ok with a<BR>Yamaha hammer when it was new, m=
ay
very well sound better with a softer<BR>Wurzen hammer now that it's older =
and
responding differently and tends<BR>to support my point. The evidenc=
e is
at least empirical whatever the<BR>science may or may not convince you
of. While a medium hammer may give<BR>the most flexibility to go eit=
her
way on many pianos, there will be<BR>cases where hammers which fall at one=
end
of the spectrum or the other<BR>will be the better fit. <BR><BR>As far as =
how
long a hammer will last, unlacquered versus lacquered; the<BR>issue seems =
to
be how much lacquer and how it is applied. A weak<BR>stiffening solu=
tion
probably doesn't do much to effect the life of the<BR>hammer. But si=
nce
lacquer gets harder and more brittle over time, a<BR>heavily lacquered ham=
mer
will not last in terms of controllability as<BR>long as an unlacquered ham=
mer,
assuming it hasn't been needled to death.<BR><BR><BR>David
Love<BR>davidlovepianos@comcast.net </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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