[CAUT] Fw: S&S Hammers and lacquer

[Ed Sutton]

This from Dave Lamoreaux re the "Paderewski" piano in the Smithsonian.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lester D Lamoreaux" <davelamx at starpower.net>
To: "Ed Sutton" <ed440 at mindspring.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 10:41 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] S&S Hammers and lacquer


> The original hammers that came with the Paderewski Concert D grand  
> were taken off in the early 80's and replaced with modern ones so the  
> piano could be played on regularly. The old hammers were kinda yellow  
> colored and quite soft. If there was any lacquer left in them, it  
> certainly was well hidden. (Those hammers were packed away for  
> scholarly research whenever that happens.) The piano was very loud  
> and bright sounding in spite (or as some have said, because of) the  
> soft hammers. My take on that was that the hammers were thin enough  
> for the wood core sound to come thru on hard blows. At least one  
> pianist who played the piano before the old hammers were removed felt  
> that the piano has never sounded as good and powerful as it did when  
> it first came to the Smithsonian.  I am not prepared to contradict him.
> 
> I have always wondered what kind of wool was used in those old  
> hammers. The piano dates from 1891-2 and was used by Paderewski in  
> his US tour of 1892-93. Then when he was kicked out of Poland (by the  
> Communists) after serving as President of Poland and all those other  
> things he was famous for, Steinway allowed him to have the piano in  
> his apartment in New York until he died. After that Steinway kept it  
> preserved in some basement until it was given to the Smithsonian in  
> 1975 for the Bicentennial celebration.
> 
> It has been used in some pretty cool recordings and quite a few  
> concerts at the museum.
> 
> David Lamoreaux
> 
> On Sep 20, 2007, at 8:19 PM, Ed Sutton wrote:
> 
>> Dave-
>> Any chance you could tell us about the age and condition of the  
>> hammers on the Paderewski piano in the Smithsonian?
>> Is it a B or a D?
>> Thanks!
>> Ed Sutton
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Wood"  
>> <dew2 at u.washington.edu>
>> To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 7:58 PM
>> Subject: [CAUT] S&S Hammers and lacquer
>>
>>
>>> I keep hearing contradictory things about the nearly-mythical  
>>> '20's Steinway piano hammers, particularly regarding the use of  
>>> lacquer.  Many independent technicians are convinced that they do  
>>> not contain  lacquer, or at least very little. This does not seem  
>>> to agree with my  experience. And I have asked at least 6  
>>> different, very  knowledgeable, senior technicians employed by  
>>> Steinway about it, and  they all have agreed that to their  
>>> knowledge, every Model D Steinway  ever issued from the factory  
>>> (NY) has had lacquer (or its precursor)  in all 88 hammers. This  
>>> includes Joe Bisceglie, who probably had the  earliest involvement  
>>> with the company.
>>>
>>> So, can any of you provide hard evidence of a factory hammer in a  
>>> D without? I'd really like to know.
>>>
>>> This relates to my earlier post about the hammers being, actually,  
>>> a composite. And the suggestion that Steinway developed its  
>>> hammer, and  its tone, including lacquer (or its precursor) as an  
>>> essential  element. I'd guess that most of you don't hold  
>>> particularly to the  purist notion that a no-lacquer hammer is by  
>>> its very nature superior  to a lacquered one--that we somehow  
>>> should apologize for needing to  use such awful stuff, or  
>>> whatever. But this myth that in the golden  days of piano  
>>> manufacture the hammers were so great that lacquer  wasn't  
>>> necessary does the industry a large disservice.
>>>
>>> Doug Wood