<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>Re: old Lowrey console</title></head><body> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">... I'm beginning to wonder if it is just the piano design and quality that makes it sound this way.</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>It certainly is the case that some pianos can't give very much in the tone department no matter what you do to the existing hammers.</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">I have not tried pliers, though.  I haven't resorted to that just yet...</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>It's amazing when other methods fail, how well shank knurling pliers get down to business. It's not a pretty picture how the hammers look, but "...<font face="Arial"> an easy/short fix to this problem shy of replacing the hammers</font>" was the reason for your post.</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">I wanted to get a better opinion on what else to do.</font></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite>Dave Foster</blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>Surely,</div> <div><br></div> <div>Keith McGavern<br> Registered Piano Technician<br> Oklahoma Chapter 731<br> Piano Technicians Guild</div> <div>USA</div> <div><br></div> </body> </html>