<!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 6.00.2737.800" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I own a brand new Shigeru Kawai SK3 = that the Kawai technician in France has</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>made, according to me,  too deep = voicing on notes in the treeble range (octave 5 to 6).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Although he disagrees with that, the = tone is slightly too mellow in this range,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>from pianissimo up to mezzo forte. At = pianissimo or piano, the higher partials are</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>reduced compared to neighboring octaves = (impacted notes are from 55 to 69),</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>and the attack looks a bit = dull.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Those higher partials are coming back = with more strength on the key. However,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>these notes always require slightly = more strength to produce a balanced sound.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From Mezzo forte up to Forte, things = are OK (overall loudness and tone quality</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>is well balanced)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The technician made several filing with = very limited improvement. I'm not a</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>specialist, just a pianist - but my = engineering background and what I learned</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>reading your very interesting posts, = tell me that there has been likely too much</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>deep needling in the higher section of = the shoulders.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Shigeru hammers are cold-pressed = and are considered as medim/soft in</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>europe. May be they are not  very = robust to extensive voicing.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm wondering what could be the best = solution to recover some power to these</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>15 hammers : dry ironing, juicing or = changing those 15 hammer heads ?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kawai says the tone will not be even if = I change only a sub set of hammers</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>(they don't want to replace either full = set of subset anyway...</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Have you experienced changing subset of = hammers in this range ?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Which hammer head brand would you = recommend for those Kawai pianos (softer</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>than Yamaha...) ?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Do you think dry ironing would make it = ? (actually the recovery level I'm expecting</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>is not that big and the felt thickness = is small in this range, so this could work).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Many thanks for your = feedbacks,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sincerely yours,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stephane Hanriat</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A href="mailto:stephane.hanriat@free.fr">stephane.hanriat@free.fr</A></FO= NT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>PS : This being said, the SK3 is an = outstanding instrument. Action is close to</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>perfection, overall tone is wonderful, = rich, not too harsh like Yamaha and the</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>softer hammers give you great control = and margin in the way you produce louder</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>sound.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>