<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" = http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.3105.105" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; = BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; FONT: 10pt verdana"> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Boy did Dale Erwin hit the nail on = the head or what?  Well put.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>I too have had both ends of the spectrums with = the late 70's M&Bs...both good and bad.  But if things are set up = correctly, they can sound extremely good...I mean real nice. I too have a green = monster hammer M&B BB, everything original which is incredible. On the other = hand, more times than not, it arrows goes the other way. Fluffy hammers, poor = pinning, loose knuckle leather, the l</FONT><FONT face=Arial>ist goes on and on.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>His advise about trying several types of hammers = and see what suits your fancy and the customer's is good advise. Remember = sometimes the sound you think is best is contrary to the customer.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>The issue with the Yamaha sound being hammered = home with many listeners today is many customers expect all pianos to have = that quality or characteristic of sound.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Do the pluck test, check the sustain = through  out. Check the bearing, crown, etc. If all looks good, put on  your = plaid pants and white shoes and do your hammer selling war dance.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Tom Servinsky,RPT</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: = 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A href="mailto:erwinpiano@msn.com" title=erwinpiano@msn.com>DALE = ERWIN</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" title=pianotech@ptg.org>pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 25, = 2001 10:35 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Voicing M&H = BB</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>Hey Ron O and list</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>    Although the Mason & Hamlin BB = has tremendous potential I find that many especially from the late = 1970's are tonally disappointing and some down right dismal  and = it's not all hammer problems. I also have one from that era that's to = die for and it had the green monsters and poor action  to start. What gives!!!</DIV> <DIV>    Having worked on a many of these I think it's = safe to say that when the bellywork is set up right they're truly  = Glorious(with the break being the exception, BUT AS IS IN ANY GOOD PIANO ,THE BETTER = THE BELLY SET UP THE LESS NOTICIABLE THESE WEAKNESSES ARE. (Sorry not shouting).  By setup I mean rib crowned,nicely diaphramized, nice = bridge work and very healthy  and adequate amounts of bearing and = voicing of course.  If this isn't the case then the kind o problems Terry F. = is having will not lend themselves well to a Full Mason BB sound. It's a = rather fickle system. It really needs a cutoff bar added as well as detuned = front duplexes with less counterbearing angle as they frequently break strings.</DIV> <DIV>     Who knows maybe you could get it to = sound like a Yamaha if the boards that stingy.I.E loud attack short decay.  = Terry do some plucking of the strings in the treble and if the sing freely and = bloom with out plucking real hard you may have a chance with a good = hammer.  Able, Ronsen and Isaac hammers all work well in these pianos. If you = need samples I can send you some of each, I think.</DIV> <DIV>   My suggestion would be to install a few of = these  hammers and voice them and see which way the wind is = blowing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>  Best---Dale Erwin</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>     </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message -----</DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; COLOR: black; FONT: 10pt = Arial"><B>From:</B> Overs Pianos</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 25, = 2001 1:27 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial"><B>To:</B> pianotech@ptg.org</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Voicing M&H = BB</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>Terry,<BR><BR>>Junk hammers? I'll buy that. But = why the HUGE change in tone across the<BR>>break? I would think that if = all the hammers are whatever grade of junk,<BR>>then this must go way = beyond hammers only.<BR>><BR>>Del or Ron? Any input from a = belly/scaling perspective?<BR><BR>While I am unsure whether the BB you describe = bears any scaling or<BR>bridge layout resemblance to the current BB, I had a = look and listen<BR>to the new BB which was displayed at Reno (at a quiet time = in the<BR>loading dock after the convention when our piano was being = loaded out<BR>on the Monday morning). My impression of this instrument was = that the<BR>impedance matching across the break between the treble and bass<BR>bridge was perhaps one of most varied I had encountered on a = 7'<BR>grand. Its even more dramatic than the Steinway B. Both get<BR>progressively thinner toned heading down towards the break, then<BR>'boomy' and 'fat' at the first note on the bass = bridge.<BR><BR>A quick look at the location (read distance) of the bridges out = from<BR>the inner rim told the story. Tapping on the ends of the = bridges<BR>further confirmed my suspicion (yes you can do this even when the<BR>piano = is strung - try it!). The upper end of the bass bridge was<BR>located far away = from the inner rim (as is typical on so many<BR>pianos), while the lower = end of the treble bridge headed over towards<BR>the bass side to end up too = close to the rim. The poor tonal<BR>transition was mostly a consequence of = the bridge location on the<BR>board, but the 'hockey stick' treble scale = didn't help either.  The<BR>tension was obviously falling away rather = badly towards to lower<BR>tenor area of the long bridge. I would like to = get a copy of the<BR>speaking lengths and wire diameters if any one has = info on hand. If<BR>anyone's got the scale I would like to get it as an = attachment. Send<BR>it to mailto:ron@overspianos.com.au<BR><BR>When there is a = major change in the response of the board over the<BR>break, there is = nothing the voicer can do to fix the transition.<BR><BR>Actually, I was somewhat = disappointed at the design of the BB. I had<BR>heard so much about = the piano before going to Reno, so I was<BR>expecting something really good.<BR><BR>Ron O<BR>--<BR>______________________________<BR><BR>Website:  = http://www.overspianos.com.au<BR>Email:     &nbs= p;  = mailto:ron@overspianos.com.au<BR>______________________________<BR></BLOC= KQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>