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<DIV>Greetings, </DIV>
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<DIV> That looks like a great method I am going to try it. It works with new hammers, does it work with very old hammers that are hard? Today I had a job to soften the tone of this ca,1920's piano's hammers. No matter how much I needled the things they were like stale dry pieces of bread.. o...r... ancient marshmellows of antiquity..... I even shallow needled the "forbidden" strike zone (oooOOO NO,, MR BILL.. DONT....oo...oooo O NOoooooo!} (thats what I say to myself when I have to needle the crown...even if its shallowly, I feel guilty) I almost couldn't do a dang thing with them. Well, the tone <EM>did </EM>get <EM>alittle</EM> softer. Carding and needling did improve the tone, but <EM>not</EM> as much as I had expected.</DIV>
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<DIV>Julia</DIV>
<DIV>Reading, PA</DIV>
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<DIV>In a message dated 9/18/2006 2:21:36 PM Eastern Standard Time, drjazzca@yahoo.ca writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial>Hello<BR> <BR> Try this for a controlled focused use of steam.<BR><BR> 1) Cut a very thin cloth into a strip approx.<BR> 18 inches long by 4 inches wide.<BR> 2) Wet cloth <BR> 3) Wring out cloth well so it is only damp wet, <BR> not dripping wet. <BR> 4) Support the hammer section to be voiced with a <BR> rail, and lay the damp cloth over the hammers.<BR> 5) Iron the hammers individually in the desired area<BR>with a hammer iron, or as a group with an iron.<BR><BR> I prefer individual ironing, as the tone and<BR>duration of the sizzle cues me to drive an equal<BR>amount of steam with each touch of the iron. This<BR>method allows focused application of steam to just the<BR>tip, or just the shoulder as desired. <BR><BR> I find steaming in this way is like sugar coating,<BR>getting rid of the "uglies", but fails to add<BR>anything. It removes content, not adding content to<BR>the tone. Deep needling of the shoulders can bolster<BR>lower partials, power, and sustain. I have found steam<BR>voicing very effective for quick results that are<BR>dramatic and pleasing on very hard hammers that seem<BR>to be prevalent among certain new piano brands as<BR>delivered. Quikly getting rid of some bite on these<BR>pianos is often good to my ear. <BR><BR> Cheers<BR> David Renaud <BR> RPT<BR> Canada<BR>--------------------------------------------<BR>Greetings, <BR> How do you control the steam stream while executing<BR>the steam hammer softening method? I would be<BR>concerned about having hammers unravelling off the<BR>core. Julia Gottshall Reading, PA</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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