[CAUT] 80 year old S&S hammers

[Delwin D Fandrich]

I have observed this on a number of older pianos. Some of those hammers were
almost ridiculously soft and resilient yet produced wonderful tone that should
be bright enough for anyone short of the profoundly deaf. And they seemed to
last forever. Much longer than the lacquered granite that passes for hammers on
many contemporary pianos.
 
ddf
 

  _____  

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jim Busby
Sent: April 09, 2009 7:24 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: [CAUT] 80 year old S&S hammers



All,

 

A few months back I posted an ad by the father of the "5 Browns" for a 1939 D
for sale. Supposedly it was pick by Paderewski for his final concert.  I finally
got to look at the piano. It did have quite good sound, good sustain, crown in
the soundboard and the right bearing in the right places, etc., no killer
octave, per se, and all original except the strings, which were 6 years old.
I've never seen a CC soundboard that old that good. Did they do rib-crowned
soundboards back then? Maybe they just got lucky. Rick Baldassin was with me and
agreed that this one needed an action rebuild only. 

 

The main reason I'm writing is that the hammers were original, and although it
was played hard for many hours every day for many years, these hammers still
sound great! No grooves. No Lacquer. Very supple felt. How can that be? 80 years
and no grooves/wear?? 

 

I kind of chuckled at all the hype in his ad, but it was kind of refreshing to
find that it was a decent instrument. 

 

Jim Busby

 

p.s. I think a school in Oregon is trying to buy it.

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