Hammer steaming

[John Musselwhite]

>If I were in your shoes, I'd just yank 'em and replace 'em.  Sounds like
>you've done everything but declare them dead.....which I'd put my money on!
>In my experience, juicing those hammers would just make it too loud and
>bright.....wait, you already said that!  6;-)

I've suggested to the customer that the piano should be rebuilt again for
reasons I will mention, however he refuses to spend the money on it even if
he can afford it. The piano once belonged to a famous(!) local pianist who
had it rebuilt in the seventies (with Steinway action parts). In addition to
the hammer problem, there is no leather on the knuckles, just the felt roll;
the understring felt is red in the bass and green in the treble sections;
there are lines of screws all over the 'board holding the ribs down (well, I
suppose that was the idea... on some of them the glue dried before they
tried to suck the ribs down); and some of the repaired cracks have opened up
beside the shims.

He loves the piano though (except for the brightness) and is concerned about
the quality of a rebuild. Because of the damage to the 'board it should
really be replaced but he's concerned it won't be a Steinway anymore unless
it goes back to the factory (at a cost of over $20 thousand CDN) and even
then if he does any parts replacement it won't be as "historical" as it is
now.

                John
John Musselwhite, RPT               Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com       john.musselwhite@67.cambo.cuug.ab.ca