Which Hammers?

[S. Brady]

On Fri, 7 Jun 1996, Avery Todd wrote:

>    I'm preparing an estimate to replace the hammers (among several other
> things) on a 5'2" Marshall & Wendell grand, serial #109800. The piano is in
> a fairly large, uncarpeted room of a townhouse that also has no drapes or
> anything else to absorb sound, so it is a fairly "loud" room.
>    Can someone recommend a brand of hammers that would have a good chance
> of sounding good in this particular situation, i.e. not too bright?

      Avery,
      I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Ronsen hammers for this
piano. Ronsen makes cold-pressed hammers which require some tone building
(similar to Steinway hammers), but I think in a case where the room
acoustics are "hard" to begin with, they would ultimately be less trouble
than most of the hot-pressed varieties. I use Abel hammers most of the
time myself, but I think in your situation a softer hammer would give
better long-term results.

      Good luck,
            Steve


___________________________________________________________________________
Steve Brady, RPT        "Chaos is the law of nature; order is the
University of Washington      dream of man."    --Henry Adams
sbrady@u.washington.edu