<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; cha= rset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV> <DIV>            Hi E= d</DIV> <DIV>  Good advice & strategy. Its hard to sell some pianist the "I= t'll break in with playing routine" however. The only thing I'd add to your = prtocol is that the last thing to do would be to use a very dilute solution = (^6-1) or whatever.on the top to satisfy these folks till it does breaks in.= That being said you'll never sell a Stwy D that sounds like its only half b= aked to some one looking for a concert instrument.</DIV> <DIV>  Dale</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial>Greetings,<BR>    Inre my recommenda= tion for using 5:1 thinned lacquer and being <BR>conservative, Dale and Bill= have responded with the "other side".   I sorta agree, but <BR>wa= nt to offer a little more of my own rationale.<BR><BR>Dale said: <BR>  =    Yes,  but on the other hand if the hammers are really too = soft the 5 to <BR>1- <BR>will not get the hammer felt stiff enough & try= ing to switch to a thicker <BR>solution (3-1) solution later will only encou= nter the blocking effect of the <BR>first application & the 3-1 to 1 can= 't get in as far as it needs to go. <BR>    I rather suggest exper= imenting on only a few hammers at a time in <BR>different registers to deter= mine the appropriate remedy. I like to stick a <BR>single <BR>needle in vari= ous hammers as a probe to get a feel of the inherent stiffness <BR>or <BR>la= ck of it. If you call the mixture wrong on one at least you didn't whole <BR= >sale <BR>treat em all & then say oops I shoulnda done that!. <<<B= R><BR>      By beginning my doping on the shoulders at 9:00 a= nd 3:00, (a full <BR>eyedropper full on each one), I leave a "V-shaped" area= under the string with very <BR>little lacquer in it.    You can o= bserve this with some colored lacquer on a <BR>scrap Steinway Hammer.  = The wicking effect takes the fluid in farthest in at <BR>the middle, forming= a half-moon shape and usually reaching the core wood right <BR>at its tip.&= nbsp; When this happens from both sides, the center of the hammer ends <BR>u= p drenched, with a graduated amount of hardener rising above it to the conta= ct <BR>point, ( well soaked at the top of the underfelt and none at all on t= he <BR>surface where the string will be contacted).  <BR>   I= like to let the hammers get played after this, and often, they will <BR>beg= in to develop a brilliance and range.  If the player simply doesn't lik= e the <BR>softness, or the hammers need more brilliance right off, then I ad= d more lacquer <BR>from higher up on the shoulder, something like half an ey= edropper at 10:30 <BR>and 1:30 positions.  This seems to avoid the "blo= cking" of the earlier <BR>application, and usually begins to create much mor= e dramatic results.  It also leaves <BR>still a little untreated felt a= t the very surface and this is what I want.  <BR>    The fact= ory method of soaking from the top down can make for a very nice <BR>sound, = (once you needle the crashy sound out of a percentage of hammers thus <BR>tr= eated).  However, I find that the sound is not durable, and with modera= te to <BR>heavy play, the sound becomes harsh.  When needling the harsh= ness out, I feel <BR>like I begin to lose tonal range.  </FONT></BLOCKQ= UOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>