Steinway Hammers

[Horace Greeley]

Hi, Carol,

- rant -

I am well aware of the methods currently being taught at S&S.  I did not 
like them when they were introduced, and have seen only increasing reasons 
not to use them.  More traditional methods produce a greater range and 
domain of dynamic and tonal palette, but require more work - and that is 
the main reason for the change, not quality of end product.

The later method was adopted as S&S was rolling out their contract service 
for "concert" instruments, and allowed technicians to fly in on a Friday 
and leave Saturday with an instrument in "performance" condition.  On more 
than one occasion, the poor sap left to take care of such an instrument has 
had to reinvent the wheel to try to resurrect some semblance of tone and 
control.

As to the out come in two such concert venues, please read the extensive 
post I recently made.  (It is not all my writing, but is a compilation work.)

This is not to say that aspects of the method are not, from time to time, 
usable, appropriate and/or the "right way".  It is, however, to say that a 
great deal gets lost in the process.  From a strictly philosophical 
position, I, for one, question the necessary universality of _any_ one 
method; but also choose to use those which seem to me to be the most 
promoting of musical flexibility and stability.

Thinking about what is and is not done at S&S these days, it is also 
appropriate to bear in mind that this is a company which boasts about 
taking someone "off the street" (in terms of previous technical 
training/experience) and having them tune in Carnegie Hall in six 
months.  The results speak for themselves.

  - end of rant -

If whatever you are doing works for you, then, by all means, do use 
it.  Just be aware that there are substantive, long-since-established  and 
proven methods which, while admittedly more labor intensive, might give you 
significantly more flexibility in your work.

Best regards.  (No, I haven't found the Scotch yet.)

Horace



At 09:44 PM 1/10/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>I won't presume to have the experience you CAUTS have, but I attended
>"Steinway School" a few years back, and we spent a lot of time voicing
>Steinway hammers.  Basically the class was to show us that you could NOT
>ruin a Steinway hammer.  The preferred method was to take  a pint of acetone
>and dissolve a keytop in it.  Pour the juice over the strike point.  You
>could even saturate the hammer if you wanted, just to prove their point.
>The needling was done at the strike point as well.
>
>Recently a client of mine purchased a new Steinway grand, and it sounded so
>wimpy as to be muddled.  One drop of Supertone on the strike point showed
>every flaw in the tuning!  I needled the strike point only with my Yamaha
>voicing tool about 6-7 pokes per hammer - never toucing the shoulders. The
>piano now has some "attitude" without sounding clanging.  If the piano needs
>more power, then I "shoe-shine" with 300 grit paper.
>
>This is the method used at STeinway Hall the their concert venues.  Just my
>two cents worth.
>
>Carol Beigel, RPT