<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000080 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=tompiano@gate.net href="mailto:tompiano@gate.net">Tom = Servinsky</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> September 26, 2001 6:30 = PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Tensioned hammers = and "the staple"</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>David,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>According to Wally Brooks, Brooks LTD, the staple = acts as a "girdle", helping to keep pressure pushing upwards.  His source = of information comes straight from Abel.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Tom Servinsky,RPT</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Is that why the staples in the last set of = Abel hammers I used has a noticable gap between the head of the staple and = the felt?</FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>The staple probably had some tonal effect = back in the days when there was still some resiliency in hammer felt. It's been some = time since we've seen much of that in production hammers.</FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>I regularly pull them in the upper third = to half of a typical hammer set so I can remove some of the excess felt most hammers = come with. </FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Del</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>