<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=ISO-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; c= harset=ISO-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV> <FONT size=3>      The Andre - Th= e acknowledged Wurzen felt champion</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3> Friendly greetings to you. Good post</FONT></DIV> <DIV>   </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial size=3>The more I read about this issue, the= more I come to the conclusion <BR>that:<BR>There is actually a discussion g= oing on between the inhabitants of two <BR>different continents, The USA and= Europe.<BR>For some reason, there has been created a difference in the maki= ng of <BR>hammers. I do not know why.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><FONT size=3><STRONG>>> They may be different but the Wurzen fe= lt on both continents I believe are getting a bit closer in design. & th= at's</STRONG></FONT> <STRONG>OK</STRONG></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial size=3><BR>This difference in making hammers= and at the same time making use of <BR>separate felt markets, has created d= ifferent methods in making hammer <BR>felt, hammer heads, and ultimately a d= ifferent piano sound.<BR>Roughly speaking, we may now say that there are pia= no's with doped <BR>hammers, and there are piano's with non doped hammers.<B= R>Both continents make use of a kind of hammer dope, but the difference <BR>= in the use of said hammer dopes is caused by the different felt makers, <BR>= the different hammer makers and finally the difference in sound, <BR>favored= by the different kind of pianists, depending in which continent <BR>they li= ve.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><STRONG>   <FONT size=3>> I believe this is accurate</FO= NT></STRONG></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial size=3><BR>For years, I have spoken about an= old/new felt that came back after <BR>more than 40-50 years. It is of cours= e the Wurzen felt, brought back to <BR>us by Jack Brand, the owner/director = of the Wurzen factory in Wurzen, <BR>Germany.<BR>Together with Richard Brekn= e we explored the latest AA Wurzen quality <BR>on an older Yamaha C3 grand. = I dare say the fine result we achieved was <BR>most certainly due to the imp= roved quality of the hammer felt.<BR>At the same time, we now see that very = same felt being sold in the US <BR><U>and Canada, and we notice that that ve= ry same felt is treated in a <BR>completely different way, namely with hamme= r dope.>></U>   </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><FONT size=3><STRONG>>> I feel the need to clarify a point of f= act about this statement. Our discussion of juicing hammers may I have lead = some to believe that the Ronsen Hammers always need to be treated & that= 's simply not true.(or stwy hammers for that matter) For the sound I wa= nt typically some sets(Ronsen) require a small amount of needling in the mid= dle octave to open the sound. For my ear I like a thin solution in the = bass(but not always) but the tenor & trebles are usually left alone= except light filing and ironing. Most of this experience has been with= the Abel felt.  </STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3><STRONG>   The Wurzen felt is another story &a= mp; I personally have only installed one set so far & am waiting to inst= all a few more sets before an accurate assessment can be made. However I can= tell by examining the sets on hand that we have something special & am = eager to have more experience soon. For what its worth I'm not sure its as c= lear cut as your above statement but the acceptance of juicing hammer in the= States is more common for sure.</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3>   </FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3>  Friendly  Yankee regards</FONT>= </STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3>    Dale Erwin</FONT></STRONG></D= IV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial size=3><BR>It shows clearly that we can have= a discussion for sure, but methods <BR>differ, and tastes too.<BR>How can w= e talk about a difference in taste?</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>   <FONT size=4><STRONG> Candidly with respect.</= STRONG></FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial size=3><BR><BR><BR>André Oorebeek</FONT></= BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>