S&S Hammers

[Fred S. Sturm]

I'm with you, Ed. I don't like lacquer in the crown. I especially don't like
keeping up pianos with lacquer in the crowns over the long term. All my
lacquering has been as you describe, and I've been very happy with results.
(Well, I do occasionally lacquer crowns in the high treble).
    This is the method Steinway taught years ago, or at least what I got from
them, both directly and indirectly. I'm frankly puzzled by the "official" new
procedure -  3:1, totally soaking all the hammers, as the preliminary treatment,
followed by more. It's not a sound I associate with Steinway, or really with
classical music in general.
Regards,
Fred Sturm

A440A@aol.com wrote:

> Richard asks:
> << 3.  How can you dope the shoulders of a hammer and not have it wick
> across the crown?
>
> By applying it at about 9:00 and 3:00 o'clock, heavily.  I usually have
> sanded the sides of the hammers, and the residual red of the underfelt fibers
> wicks in front of the harder, leaving a tell-tale line, or "water-mark" on
> the side of the hammer.  When it is done right, there are two half-moons of
> lacquered area emanating from the clock positions.  When they meet just at
> the tip of the core, there is some un or lightly lacquered felt between the
> tip of the core and the strike point.  It is in the shape of a curve-sided
> wedge, and when I get here, I am usually really close to what I am finding to
> be the optimum sound.
>    A hammer like this needs 20 hours of play to begin showing the fullest
> spectrum of tone, but the combination of well-supported, resilient felt under
> the slight hardness of the string marks will produce tone like nothing else.
> I also find that this is a fairly durable treatment, allowing continual
> voicing as the hammer is filed down through its service cycle.
>     With the totally soaked hammers, I think the tonal compass is shrunk, and
> the longevity shortened.  A "shell" is easily treated by adding a drop or two
> to the sides where you want them.
> Just my .o2
> Regards,
> Ed
>