>This discussion, however, sparks a question of my own. On many pianos,
>in the extremes of the treble section, the sound often decays so rapidly
>that the sound is perceived as a 'knock' rather than a tone. Not only is
>the sound unpleasant, but it also makes for very difficult tuning. I
>have not experimented with altering wire size in this range, but I am
The problem may not be the wire size, but the mass of the hammer and/or the
shank. Practically every new (and sometimes older) piano I see has treble
hammers which are far too heavy. If it's an older piano the hammers may just
be worn out. Sometimes it's just a poor piano.
I just put a set of Renner Blues on a 48" Willis upright and they went on
beautifully. The original treble hammers had been thinned down in the
factory to slightly larger than the shank itself in the last few notes, and
I had to duplicate that to remove the knock.
Taking some wood off the sides and occasionally under the treble hammers of
some of the newer pianos where they haven't done it already seems to help
the tone a lot at the top end.
John
John Musselwhite, RPT Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com sysop@67.cambo.cuug.ab.ca
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