<html> >I've never heard of adding weights to the hammers!  The more of the >lousy lead you can get rid of the better, for the reasons Roger gives. > >JD > Greetings John,                           Adding weight to the hammer or shank, will increase the strike weight, and will have a great effect on tone quality.  As general statement, strike weight goes up, so will the power. Now Ric, some one asking how to correct touch weight, after changing a set of hammers, is hardly going to have all the tools to do a complete touch weight analysis.   So it is reasonable to assume, all that is availiable to the tech is a generic set of weights.  Thats why I advised removal of key lead.   Most of the old Steinway's had way too many. With the old model O's, I would also advise, removing the wippens, cleaning the repition spring slots, and springs. It never ceases to amaze me how much it narrows the DW-UW spread, as well as evening out the friction numbers. Regards Roger </html>