<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 7/14/2006 7:43:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, dlawson@davidlawsonspianos.com.au writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>G'day Friends.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Whilst voicing a new Kawai K-3 model the other day I got thinking about this age old question of needling the front of the hammer. We were always taught that it was a no no, right?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well there are times when you just have to, and this job I was doing required it. By going by the book, I would have achieved nothing, where as, a very tiny touch to the string indentation did the job I required, after I had carried out the 'correct' procedure, that is.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Am I getting frowns from all and sundry about this, or is it acceptable by some of you to go out of the square? My belief is that as long as you don't go crazy and damage the fibres of the hammer, you are doing no harm, just improving the tone.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Over to you.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>David Lawson.  Wangaratta.  Australia.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>  </FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV>Greetings, </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>      <STRONG>O!</STRONG> <STRONG><EM>VERBOTEN!!</EM></STRONG>   I needle the "verboten" (German for forbidden) area all the time. Its the only way to mellow out some of these hammers that are grooved and have been played and played and played and played.. and <EM>neglected</EM>. So I shallow needle the shrill, glassy sounding things and they mellow out,<EM> not deep now</EM>, but right on that strike point. As someone said earlier on this forum.."Its all custom work." I like that. Who was that? </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> Julia Gottshall<BR>Reading, PA</DIV></BODY></HTML>