Well, like everything else, doping hammers "depends". If hammers are very dull and have never been voiced, I start with 4 keytops per quart of acetone. If I'm doing slight voicing, I use 2 keytops per quart. Again, if hammers have never been voiced and are way below their potential, soak 'em. I usually attack the shoulders and the stuff ends up soaking the crown, so I suppose I might just as well soak the crown. If you end up with too much at the strike point, you can just needle it shallowly, or deeper at the shoulders or from the sides, and take care of it. The hard part about voicing is, you learn by doing. After a while, the hammer tells you what to do. There are many needling techniques, and there has been a lot of discussion about this, some even in the past few weeks, so you can check the archives. One reason I like keytop/acetone solution is, I've never had a case where I took it too far and ruined the hammer, because I use the light solution most of the time. I wish I could say that about my using lacquer... Mark Graham Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music Berea, Ohio
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