<br> <br> <br>   Julia<br>   I have never understood the Yamaha hammer design philosophy. They come back to the place you've described frequently. even with my best job of voicing I can not get the tone I want or the tone to last with a majority of OEM hammers.<br>    So many good low compression hammers works so well in these pianos.  The Ronsen is a good one with 3 felts to choose from. I'd go Bacon or VFG felt. The Wurzen felt can be a bit  stiff in these pianos. I find the piano in general can develop more tonal potential & dynamics & a more enjoyable tone overall with replacement hammers. Others may disagree....I'm ok with that.<br>   Dale Erwin<br> <br> <div id=AOLMsgPart_2_45dfedb9-e8d7-4eb6-be1c-228ffbb8f699><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <div>Greetings,</div> <div> </div> <div>         I usually shallow needle my Yami's U3 hammers after tuning to take off the "glassy" edge. However, after 10+ years of playing on this piano (This is my personal piano), sugar-coating ain't cutting it anymore.  The hammers sound ear-piercing. I side needled the area just in front of the wood core, but this only alleviated the ear piercing sound a little. These hammers were <EM>packed ha</EM>rd too!  Is Yamaha hammer quality the problem?  What am I doing wrong? ...or aren't I needling enough?  </div> <div> </div> <div>Thanks</div> <div>Julia Gottshall</div> <div>Reading, PA </div> </FONT><br> <br> <br> <div><FONT style="FONT: 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF; COLOR: black"> <HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px"> Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? <A title=http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001 href="http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001" target=_blank>Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food</A>.</FONT></div> </div> <div id='u8CA7C7673FD101F-11B4-1AAE' class='aol_ad_footer'><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Plan your next roadtrip with <A title="http://www.mapquest.com/?ncid=mpqmap00030000000004" href="http://www.mapquest.com/?ncid=mpqmap00030000000004" target="_blank">MapQuest.com</A>: America's #1 Mapping Site.</FONT> </div>