I want to give a very strong second to Les' excellent advice. Unless, of course... Naw, I think (was it Sam) is going to need all those Weaver arms he can find. I think I'd be inclined to put the softening solution on either side of the hammer, behind the crown. 3 or 4 drops. Dave Stanwood's solution of 10cc alcohol in a small Gatorade bottle of water should do the trick nicely. Take along a hammer iron, just in case you go almost, but not quite, too far. Best. Horace At 02:42 AM 3/11/97 -0500, you wrote: >Hi, John and Danny. > >One word of caution about attempting to needle those hammers, however >slightly. Look closely at the hammer flanges. I believe that you will >find that they are plastic. You know, the kind that crumble and break >when you exert the slightest bit of pressure on them. MAKE SURE that >you support those hammers firmly and carefully when trying to needle >them, because those flanges will break very easily. I believe that >both the wippen and damper flaanges are also plactic. Elbows, too. >If you're concerned about being able to voice the hammers down by >needling without breaking fragile action parts that can be a real >PITA to replace, you might want to consider applying a softening so- >lution such as fabric softner and water be means of a hypo-oiler to >the hammers and play it safe. > >Les Smith >lessmith@buffnet.net > > > > > > >On Tue, 11 Mar 1997, Danny Moore wrote: > >> jpiesik@arinc.com wrote: >> >> I reshaped hammers on a Poole 1940ish s(yup, I did). >> <<snip>> I talked to her after the shaping, and she says it is now >> too harsh/bright for her. <<snip>> Then she mentioned her hearing >> aids - she's 72. <<snip>> Should I turn those hammers into mashed >> potatoes to please her? Something tells me to please the client, >> but something else tells me to avoid turning the piano into a fluff >> ball. . . >> >> John, >> I'd say you've made an astute evaluation of the problem . . . most >> hearing aids begin to roll off the lows pretty radically below 200 Hz, >> which is not very low on a piano scale. We have to guess that she has >> sensorineural hearing loss, probably common presbycusis (no, that's not >> the church she goes to) since they are attempting to correct it with >> hearing aids. Presbycusis is where the cochlea (little hair cells) in >> the inner ear begin to die and are not replaced as a result of the aging >> process. >> >> Yeah, I know you didn't ask for a biology lesson; bear with me, it is >> relevant. Usually, the high frequency content above 4000 Hz goes even >> before the low frequency content. Evidently, her hearing aids are >> amplifying the high frequency content and she has not lost all >> sensitivity to these frequencies. >> >> You're right, she's hearing too much of the upper partials and not >> enough fundamental and lower partials. Since it's likely that she has >> lost some of her ability to hear the higher frequencies, I suspect you >> won't have to soften the hammers as much as you would if YOU were >> listening for the upper partials. Most likely, a slight needling will >> be all that's required. The brightness will probably disappear for her >> long before it does for you. I would think that you would want her with >> you as you begin voicing, after all, you've already made it sound good >> to you, now you've got to discover what sounds good to her. >> >> Bottom line: Make her happy. At her age, she'll never buy another >> piano and I'm sure her little spinet gives her as much pleasure as >> anything in her life. It certainly doesn't matter about resale value or >> what the next owner might think. If you make the piano sound like she >> wants it to, you will forever be her hero. If you don't, you'll be that >> "young kid (even if you're 60 years old) who came in here and made my >> piano sound like something Little Richard would play." >> >> Happy fluffing. . . >> >> Danny Moore >> Houston Chapter >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > Horace Greeley Stanford University email: hgreeley@leland.stanford.edu voice mail: 415.725.9062 LiNCS help line: 415.725.4627
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