[CAUT] Hammers

[Paul T Williams]

Hi Alan and Greg.

I've installed nearly a dozen Wally's and love them dearly!  Last summer, 
I installed some on our smaller recital hall on a D.  Wow!  They're 
excellent.  Mel told me when I asked about using them on a D that they had 
a "special" kind of hammer just for concert grands (I expect a tiny bit 
heavier)  They do tend to brighten up after being played for a year, but 
easily dealt with.  The American Liszt Fest Society who were here in April 
raved about the great sound range they were able to get with them. 
Sometimes, though, they're a bit too much on some M's and M&H's in our 
practice rooms.  I just have to voice them down a bit more often, but hey, 
practice rooms always need down voicing no matter what you put in them :>) 
I just finished a '24 L with them, and they're just lovely.

My vote is obvious!

Paul




From:
"Greg Granoff" <Gregory.Granoff at humboldt.edu>
To:
<caut at ptg.org>
Date:
06/23/2010 02:10 PM
Subject:
Re: [CAUT] Hammers



Hi Alan,
I’ve really been liking Wally’s Abel Naturals lately.  Medium weight 
hammer, plenty of power right out of the box, and a really nice color 
range without being brassy except at the very top perhaps where they are 
easy to voice down.  Hardly any filing except for string mating as 
necessary; mostly just shoulder needling for more openness in the mid and 
treble, and some light crown needling to get evenness of attack. The one D 
I put them on here has become a favorite.  Big, round sound, good sustain, 
brilliance and power when you want it, plenty of warmth at the more 
moderate dynamic ranges.  Quite stable once settled in.
 
Hope that helps,
 
Greg Granoff
Humboldt State U.
 
 
 

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of 
McCoy, Alan
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 11:33 AM
To: College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>
Subject: [CAUT] Hammers
 
Hi Folks,

I am considering options for hammers on a S&S D. I want a softer hammer 
with some heft. Right now the piano has Ronsen Bacons and a Del Fandrich 
board. Right now there’s just not enough “boom” at the point of attack but 
otherwise nice color and projection and decent sustain. I’m looking at 
these hammers:

NY S&S
Pianotek Abel Select
Wally’s Abel Naturals
Ronsen Wurzen 
Ronsen Weickert

I have experience with S&S, Wurzen and Abel Select, but not the others. 
Which would you choose, and why?

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Yeah, Jim I know you like the new Renner Weikert Blue Points, but I never 
have liked working with Renner Blues so I didn’t include the Blue Points 
on my list to consider. You can try to convince me though!   ;-)

Alan


-- Alan McCoy, RPT
Eastern Washington University
amccoy at ewu.edu



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