Understandable. You feel a bit more in control voicing down than guessing about lacquer and how the lacquer will develop over time. The Weickert and Wurzen Ronsens will, IMO, need some time to develop to achieve what it seems like you're after and that's not always doable in a must-be-ready-now concert hall situation. That is, not without adding a lot of lacquer which sort of defeats the whole idea. The upper end will, however, probably need a bit of help, though not as much as a NY Steinway or Bacon felt hammer. Understanding how to work with a voice down type of hammer is really important. If you aren't familiar with that style of hammer on a NY D and simply start crown needling like you do on a lacquered hammer you get nowhere fast and it's not a very good nowhere. So on a Steinway D what is your voicing down hammer of choice? This goes back to this discussion some tens of posts back where I suggested that the Hamburg Steinway hammer was often a good choice for a New York D (got some resistance there). I still feel that way, especially in the situation you describe. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred Sturm Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2011 5:45 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Fwd: Steinway sound-Hammer weights On Mar 3, 2011, at 4:12 PM, David Love wrote: > The Ronsen > Bacon felt hammer is in the same category, I think. However, the > Ronsen > Wurzen and Weickert felt hammers are firmer and will rise to the > appropriate > level with some play-in and a minimum amount of hardener. Thanks for the detailed feedback, David. I agree that unadulterated Steinway hammers and Ronsen Bacon simply won't "come up" with play, at least in my experience. It is good to know that Ronsen Wurzen and Weickert are enough firmer that play in at least might be sufficient. I have heard some enthusiastic stories about those two hammers, but on follow up privately the story changed a bit to be that the tech loved the sound, but to please people hardening was needed. I haven't had the spare time and money to experiment myself. I think I will stick to a moderate voice down. Or a major voice down if that's what it takes. Unlike some, I am not afraid of 40 - 100 strokes per hammer, as long as they are not gut-wrenching strokes. WIth mildly dense hammers, it is more a matter of 10 strokes per side, which I find quite reasonable. I prefer voicing down (to the dream of just putting hammers on and having them be perfect as is), as I can feel the hammers, adjust them in more than one direction, actually influence the voice of the piano. I have the impression that there not too many techs who have the basic fundamental chops in that line of work, judging by all sorts of comments. Regards, Fred Sturm fssturm at unm.edu http://www.createculture.org/profile/FredSturm
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC