<HTML><HEAD></HEAD> <BODY> I'm interested in the belly brace for a Baldwin= D.   What is the criteria for whether it might be= needed?   David I.     ----- Original message= ----------------------------------------> From: Nichols= <<A= href="mailto:nicho@zianet.com">nicho@zianet.com</A>> To:= Pianotech <<A= href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>> Rec= eived: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 21:24:24 -0600 Subject: Re: Big= Hammers Barbara,     While hunting= for "every little bit" of projection for a D I service, I= discovered the extra belly brace sold by PianoTek. It's for the= treble, and really helped octaves 61/2 thru to the top. Better= projection, little higher volume, much better sustain. Not too= expensive, and a piece-o-cake to install and test.  Y'know,= when every little thing adds up to get more..... more. Also, is= the piano "grounded"? Big halls laugh at pianos on flexing,= rubber-wheeled springs. A couple of blocks for under the front= work wonders. Just a couple of ¢= worth, Guy At 12:00 PM 8/30/2004 -0500, you= wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">Hey all,   Some= of you may remember the thread last spring, voicing for a big,= dead, hall.  Still waiting for the bureaucracy to make up= their minds, but in the mean time I've been thinking a lot about= the project and I'd like to have a chat about hammer size. = The hall is huge (3500 seats or so), has lots of carpet and= poses a challenge for the piano's= projection.   I won't= go into all the piano's issues (of which it has quite a few and= I can deal with them), but there is one area I'd like to hear= your opinions.  Right now, the piano (Steinway D) has the= biggest hammers on it that I've ever seen.  Is it a fact= that BIG hammers will help power and projection, especially in a= problem setting like this?   A friend has recommended= that I "leave them big."  Some days I agree with him and on= others, I don't.  Of course, I won't really know what's= going to work until I dig in, but I'd just like to hear what= your experience has been.   Thanks,   Barbara Richmond, RPT</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>