[CAUT] My take on them, (was The "new" S&S Hammers).

[A440A at aol.com]

David writes:

<< why would you buy hammers that cost
more, take more work, and hope they "have less noisy attack"?  Is this for
the customer who insists on Genuine Steinway parts or is the normal
procedure? >>

      Hmm, I may have been misunderstood. I was speaking of how I approach 
Steinway hammers that have become harsh.  
       I prefer the Renner hammers, and am considering using the Ronsen 
Wurzens on the next Steinway.  However, I do have to work with Steinway hammers 
when I have a new piano to deal with.  In the school setting, the problem begins 
after the first year, when the hammers begin to become harsh.  I do have 
customers that want Steinway parts, so I give them Steinway parts.  
  Now, to consider several things:  the Steinway hammers don't take more 
work, voicing with lacquer is much easier than the exhaustive accupuncture that 
Renner Blues require.  I also think that the Steinway hammers can provide better 
tone than anything else, for just a little while, but they are NOT durable.   
 It is a lot like the tires that Nascar racing cars use,which provide better 
traction than anything you can get in the store, but you have to change them 
every 20 miles.  The soft wool/ excessively lacquered hammers (Swells) provide 
a great tone, but after they have been played a year or two in the school 
environment, it becomes difficult to maintain the range of mellow 
pianissimo/brilliant forte. Needling these sugar cubes kills the offending ping, but the range 
begins to disappear.   
    If there is a school that can afford to replace hammers every two years, 
the factory hammers are the way to go. However, longevity is a prime 
consideration for CAUT work,(at least, it is here in Gnashville), and I have too much 
other wear to address in the school to bleed the maintenance budget keeping the 
stage pianos sublime with factory hammers.  Renners do fine over the long 
haul. They take a lot more work, up front, but they can go 6 years or so before 
becoming narrow in their range.  
     I preferred the un-treated factory hammers, because I could lacquer them 
as per the older method, ie.  I soaked hardener into the shoulders until the 
solution reached the tip of the core from both sides.  This usually allowed me 
to put them into service as "mellow" and with some playing to compact the 
surface, the hammers began to "speak" after perhaps 40 hours of play.  Sometimes, 
I had to add an eyedropper full on the sides, right at the tip of the core, 
so that the soak area moved closer to the strike point.  Hammers thus treated 
would hold their tonal range for far longer than what I find now.  Sometimes I 
have been able to introduce solvent at the crown to remove some of the 
harshness.  
    What I find from the current factory offering is a hard hammer that 
sounds loud, but lacks body at a distance, (like the middle of a 700 seat hall).  
This became evident last year when a new D was played next to a much older D 
with 5 year old Renner blues on it.  On the stage, the new piano seemed much 
stronger, the old one seemed mellow and lacked "power".  HOwever, out in the 
hall, the new piano sounded stringy and thin while the older piano sounded full 
and resonant.  Experienced performers that pay attention understand this, but 
many pianists simply go by what they hear on the stage, <sigh>
   Power comes from the lower frequencies, a hammer must be resilent to 
produce them. Definition and clarity come from the higher frequencies, the hammer 
must have some stiffness to create them.  Getting a hammer to possess all of 
these qualities requires a rock hard deep inner core with a certain amount of 
resilience above it.  This can be done with lacquer, if it is kept away from the 
outer surface at the strike point.  But this capacity seems to be more 
rapidly perishable on the heavily lacquered hammers, that is why I prefer to take a 
highly compressed hammer and introduce the non-linear flexibility with 
needles.  I can keep the tonal range in play for a far longer time.  
Just my too-sense worth, 
Regards, 


Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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