<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: Hearing problems/hard hammers</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <BLOCKQUOTE>I would like to recommend the Wurzen hammers to start with; and do so= with the caveat that there are some instruments/makers/models which seem= to require a harder hammer to get much going in the way of sound. &nbsp= ;YMMV. Good luck. Best. Horace Yes, Horace....seems that some Europianos are actually made to function bet= ter with high-compression hammers. Is that possible, o ye engineering heroes= ? Anyway, I would try a set of Renner Wurzen hammers on that sucker.  Th= e washing routine would be an interesting technical experiment, but only in = an academic way---the new hammers, either Ronsen or Renner, would blo= w the old brittle ones way out of the water. David Andersen </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY> </HTML>