Sorry about that! My mailer went on "auto-pilot" and mailed the mes- age before I had a chance to finish. As regards those "oblong Shanks". I you look closely at the hammer heads, themselves, I think that you'll find that where the shanks come through on top, that they are round. That's how they started out, originally, and then they were shaped as you see them. I am unaware of anyone who offers the oblong shanks today (Hey, that doesn't mean that someone doesn't!), but, of course, you can shape them yourself when installing replacements. As you can see, there are many, inter-related factors, which con- tribute to the voice of a particular hammer: The type of wood and weight of the hammer molding; the density and weight of the ham- mer felt; and the flexibility, or lack of it, of the wood from which the hammer shanks are made, to name only three. Replacing the hammers in a piano and preserving it's original touch and voice, assuming that's seen as desirable, starts to get a little complicated, eh? :) And we haven't even considered the role of the technician in adjusting the voice of the hammers, once the proper one has been chosen and installed. Fun? Wow! Les Smith lessmith@buffnet.net
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