<HTML>Greetings, Forgive me if this is a repeat, but I didn't see it show up in my mailbo= x. I went to check out the M and H in question yesterday, and I got a surpr= ise when I looked to see what was happening with the hammers.  I expect= ed ancient, worn things with little usable felt left. What I found was hamme= rs less than ten years old with substantial meat left on the bones.   I mentioned that an acetone bath was recommended by some, and the owner = said that she thought that the previous tech had used an acetone-mixed-with-= "something else"-solution to liven up the hammers. The sound throughout was overly percussive and metallic.  I got out= the voicing tool(fully expecting to break needles), pulled the action, foun= d one of the nastiest sounding hammers, and gave it a couple of probes. &nbs= p;There was plenty of compliance under the needle.  I softened up the s= houlders, then lightly sugar-coated the crown.  Re-inserted the action,= and the "ping" on F# 3 was gone!   The next 2 hours were spent poking hammers. It was really pre-voicing, t= hen dotting the stike points. The crowns were almost crusty.  I picture= d surface snow on a spring morning.  Whatever hardener was used ended u= p right on the surface, I assume.   When I was done with the initial stab-fest, the entire character of the = piano had changed.  I did some touch up to even things a bit, though it= was still less than perfect before I ran out of time.  Nonetheless, it= was enjoyable to play again, and the owner was thrilled to have her "old pi= ano" back.   So it was a happy ending, and I was pleased to not have to resort to che= mical warfare.  The only one not thrilled by the whole deal was my righ= t arm, which was extremely tired from using my little generic voicing tool--= a boy doing a man's work, one might say.  Recommendations for a good vo= icing tool, please??   Renner's seems like a very sturdy and pract= ical instrument. Thanks again for all of the input, folks!  It's been a very instruc= tive few days. Dave Stahl In a message dated 4/20/04 8:03:52 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Piannaman@a= ol.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Voicers, steamers, needlers= , what have you, I have recently done a small amount of work installing short lid props f= or a woman who has two pianos, a Steinway M, and a Mason A.  When I was= there, she complained about the tone of the M and H, saying that the last t= uner applied something to the hammers, and it hasn't been her sweet old pian= o since. I tried the instrument, and sure enough, it sounded like bricks hitting = tin cans.  I told her that if she was dissatisfied with it, she should = call the person who juiced it and have her voice it down.  She did, and= lots of needling didn't do the trick. When I was there last, I'd mentioned that I heard steam voicing yielded = good results, but I wasn't sure how it would work on over-lacquered hammers.=  And I've never tried the technique myself, though many on this list h= ave sung its praises.    She is at wit's end, and wants her old M and H tone back.  I said I= 'd come and check the piano out, and look into the possibility of steaming t= he hammers.  I'm not certain how old the hammers are, but if something = doesn't help them out soon, replacement will be in the cards(probably not a = bad thing, except financially...:-(). Questions: How well does this technique work on over-lacquered hammers? =  Can someone describe the best way to go about it?  I've heard dam= p-cloth/dry iron works well. Maybe I should try side-needling....:-) Thanks for any input.  I'll be scoping the piano out on Thursday. Dave Stahl </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>