[CAUT] Clicking notes on a B

[Andrew Anderson]

In the case of this B the loose hammer heads are all in the low tenor  
above the break.  I didn't notice them before the practice but after  
their practice and just before the concert.  It is a little  
disconcerting to have the artist point it out 5 minutes before curtain  
(yes I already knew but hoped it wasn't obvious) and you don't have  
any glue onsite let alone time for it to set.  They have powerful  
technique and this grand has been through some terrible humidity  
cycling (80% summer 40% winter) so something was bound to give.

Andrew Anderson

On Oct 7, 2008, at 1:48 PM, Mark Dierauf wrote:

> After chasing loose hammer shank joints around with boiling water  
> followed by fresh hot hide (applied with a brush) and/or CA glue  
> with less than stellar results, I've taken to just popping off the  
> offending hammers heads (like Ed says...with the shank/hammer  
> assembly removed from the rail to protect the pinning) and gluing  
> them back on with your favorite hammer hanging glue. If necessary,  
> use a shank reducer to clean up the shank, although if they were  
> glue starved to begin with they often pop off clean. I find this a  
> lot, and even in the absence of clicking I check all the heads  
> whenever I have the action out by simply grabbing and wiggling - the  
> loose ones stand right out! One thing that I've never been able to  
> understand, though, is why I never seem to find loose hammer heads  
> below (roughly) the capo sections. I assume that this might have  
> something to do with either the bore angle or the stiffness of the  
> strings, but I really don't know.
>
> - Mark Dierauf
>
> Andrew Anderson wrote:
>> <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">We had  
>> the Long sisters Duo (great artists, don't miss them if you have  
>> the opportunity) here at TAMIU.  During the course of their  
>> practice and the pre-concert tuning (done minutes before) some  
>> clicking developed in the hammers.  I held adjacent notes down  
>> tight to eliminate slapping of the front rail.  No joy.  I put a  
>> finger over the damper and softened the upstop.  That did seem to  
>> make a little difference.  I checked, the rail is in place with  
>> plenty of felt apparent.
>>
>> I've had to reglue a few dampers including one after their practice  
>> so I'm suspecting the hammer-shank glue joint.  Would this be a  
>> candidate for a little vinegar to reactivate the glue and tighten  
>> the joint?  Or would it be preferable to simply remove the worst  
>> hammers, knurl the shank and re-glue?
>>
>> Andrew Anderson
>>
>>
>> </div>
>>
>
>