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<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 8/28/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Annie Grieshop</b> <<a href="mailto:annie@allthingspiano.com">annie@allthingspiano.com</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">When replacing hammers on various pianos, how do you decide which<br>brands/qualities/etc. to choose for any particular instrument? Of course,
<br>I'm assuming that an older console might not get the same quality<br>replacement hammers as a newer grand -- but maybe that's a<br>penny-wise/pound-foolish approach.<br><br>I'm faced with the possibility of several hammer replacement jobs in the
<br>near future and, so, would appreciate any enlightenment now. Thanks.<br><br>Annie Grieshop<br>Hi Annie,</blockquote>
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<div>I was doing a little "housework" on my email account and noticed it had put several posts in the spam file, I have no idea why! Yours was one of them, although it's almost a month old now, I noted no one responded.
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<div>If it's not too late allow me to give my humble opinion. I have found for most of my replacement needs, the Abel hammers both for price and quality, fill the bill. They aren't too bright as amny new hammers can be, they actually come pre-voiced, I believe is the term they use. So they have a mellow tone right out of the box, no voicing necessary. I have used primarily the Abel lites since my business has been redoing smaller grands in my market although I have done a few uprights as well and can say the vertical hammers are every bit as good as the grands. For both types I have done my own boring, using the boring jig sold by Renner and tapered the hammers and shaped the tails using the jigs I bought from Bill Spurlock, in fact I hung the hammers using his hanging jig too. I also found in most of the grand pianos it was overall a better practice to replace shanks and flanges, the replacement costs of them versus the labor costs of refurbishing knuckles, repinning/rebushing flanges, removal of glue and knurling shanks can actually be less. One other thing I've discovered, the old flange screws can be weak, I've had them snap off and they are a little short for the new flanges, the recess in the flange isn't as deep. Schaff sells new screws, slightly longer ones for $3 and change.
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<div>I hope this helped,</div>
<div>Mike</div>
<div>Of course for the high end pianos, Steinway, etc. there are the Renner hammers </div><br> </div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.
<br>- Denis Waitley<br><br><br>Michael Magness<br>Magness Piano Service<br>608-786-4404<br><a href="http://www.IFixPianos.com">www.IFixPianos.com</a><br>email <a href="mailto:mike@ifixpianos.com">mike@ifixpianos.com</a>