[CAUT] collodion properties (was: Hamburg Steinway Hammer Voicing (Up) )

[Fred Sturm]

On Jul 29, 2010, at 12:53 PM, Fred Sturm wrote:

> 	Anyway, those are some thoughts along these lines, which have led  
> me not to be that interested in the idea of trying flexible  
> hardeners myself - though delighted to learn about other people's  
> experiences.


	Actually, I didn't do a very good job of explaining why I haven't  
been interested in flexible hardeners based on my experience with  
keytop (collodion may be a completely different animal). So here,  
briefly, are the reasons:
1) I don't hear that much of a difference between keytop and lacquer.  
If there is a difference, I am not sure I like keytop better - in  
fact, I may like it less. I use it sparingly for speed.
2) Lacquer is easier to needle, to bring it down if there is too much  
added.
3) Lacquer is easier to flush out. I have a piano whose hammers seem  
to have been saturated with keytop. Many years ago I soaked it out. A  
year later I soaked it out again. (This piano was the inspiration for  
my soaking method I have described a few times on this list, and  
finally published in the Journal). The hammers are still hard to stick  
a needle into shoulders. I have managed to make the piano acceptable,  
but if it had been lacquer, I could have started almost fresh.
	At the Sauter factory, I was told by three different people  
separately that what they do for bass hammers that are to wimpy (after  
deep needling procedures haven't done enough) is an application of  
thin lacquer to the core, from the side of the hammer. No lacquer  
comes close to the crown felt, it is applied pretty much next to the  
tip of the molding. Then, after it dries, the hammer is deep needled  
(again, same story from three different people). FWIW, that is what  
some Germans do with Abel hammers in this situation. I guess the  
theory is that the core felt is stiffened (the area no needles  
penetrate, from core tip up toward the striking point).
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
“Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to  
shape it.” Brecht