Just a coupla more comments on rescaling -- First, has anyone mentioned the Journal article on rescaling a 1905 Steinway upright? This article appeared in June 1988 (pp 24-29). Second, I might be a little slow to make this my first rescaling project. Not that the shorter Steinway scales are unassailable, but most clients will find them pretty good, and there are a couple of variables which don't always show on paper. Just a ferinstance -- most pianos show a jump in the arbitrary number representing loudness ( Z ) at the bass break. On paper (especially on a piano with nothing but plain wire on the long bridge) one would think this is a feature of the change to wound wire and should be smoothed out, but of course the real culprit is the different response of the placement of the two bridges on the soundboard. In other words, calculations don't tell everything. These old scales were often refined by sensitive ears. Another example -- on some pianos, like the Hamilton studio, for instance, there is a jump in the speaking length at the strut between the tenor and treble. In this case, there's always a price to pay. One can smooth out the loudness with a jump in inharmonicity, or vice versa, but one is still a prisoner of the bridge design. About twenty years ago (when I knew everything), we were stringing a short inexpensive grand, and it had one of those bridges which curves forward at the tenor. I figured out the scale, and of course the tension went way down in this area. The ScaleMaster (me) knew that we could raise the tension by using larger wire, and figured that the horrible tone in this area would then be fixed. Well, of course, that also raised the inharmonicity AND the output-- the string sounded like welding rod -- really LOUD welding rod. Changing to wound wire would have helped, but, depending on the bridge, this can also produce two breaks in the tone where there was one. What I'm saying is, I've gained considerable humility over the years. I don't change a scale unless I hear a problem, am sure that the problem is not disguisable by voicing, am sure that I know that I won't be giving up one thing to get another, am sure I can predict the outcome, and am sure that the customer won't consider this an inappropriate change in the authenticity of the design or of a historical instrument. About hammers: the old hammers were light, soft, and juiced with shellac. These were capable of a wonderful sound, and the easiest way to get a similar sound is to use a similar hammer and voicing style. You might also talk to Dale Erwin about Isaac hammers, which, if you are comfortable with light juicing, have a very resilient core to maintain sustain. Hammers with a stiffer core tend to sound dead on this instrument. Good luck, Bob Davis
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