[CAUT] Weikert felt; was 80 year old S&S hammers

[Fred Sturm]

On Apr 14, 2009, at 5:23 PM, Alan McCoy wrote:

> I will be using Ronsen Bacons on it. Reports to follow in a few  
> months. The
> last set of Ronsen Bacon hammers I installed (last summer) were very  
> good -
> consistent thickness and hardness (or softness, your choice) and  
> weight.
> They were firmer than the same hammer from several years back, but  
> still
> needing hardener. But on Del's design? I can well imagine not needing
> lacquer.

	Del's design for a Charles Walter grand uses Bacon hammers. When I  
played one a couple years ago at a convention, I found it needed some  
voicing, serious voicing down. I was floored when Del told me they  
were Bacon and had been voiced somewhat (though he agreed they needed  
more).
	My take is that, for a thinner, more responsive board and lower  
tension scale (like this), you need a softer hammer, a lighter hammer,  
and a higher action ratio, to get the most out of it. The other end of  
the spectrum is the Steinway D, which in current iteration seems to  
need a heavy, hard hammer with low ratio.
	Pure theory, which makes sense to me, but is untested in the field.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu