Grand Hammers +

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Lindquist" <ronli@newnorth.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: April 24, 2001 5:13 PM
Subject: Grand Hammers +


> Mr. Del.     My Grandfather told me talk is cheap==it takes $ to buy beer.
>
> Was looking at some grand hammers     and thought ----why not add to them
> instead of  filing them off.  ???
>
> How about sparaying on some wool     or a top coat to give the sound the
> client wants.
>
> Theses I  was looking at had large groves on them.   Do not have digital
> camera or scanner.   ~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Don't think much of the spring idea.
> ------------------------------------------------------

Ron,

OK. Generally, though, I have more regard for, and confidence in, the
opinions of the folks who have actually tried working with an idea before
they dismiss it out of hand. (If you have done so in the past and are basing
your comment on personal experience, please share that experience and I'll
happily shut up.)

Unfortunately, you're not alone in dismissing out of hand something we don't
yet understand. And there are at least a couple of ideas that have developed
over the years in spite of technicians and builders criticism. The idea of
floating the soundboard in smaller pianos is one. Another is the notion of
crowning soundboards by crowning the ribs. The concept of calculating new
stringing scales is yet another.

When I, and a very few other brave souls started working out the formulas
and techniques of rescaling in the very early 1970s we were subjected to
much skepticism, criticism and outright condemnation: The original scales
were so carefully matched to the overall 'design' of the piano we were
ruining them by tampering with the original manufacturers scaling. The
complexities of piano scale design were so complex we had no hope of ever
understanding enough about them to 'improve' them. Etc.

Still, one by one we continue to break down the walls of apathy and
ignorance. Nowadays the practice of rescaling has become a standard tool in
the piano rebuilders toolkit. There are even commercial computer software
programs for use by the spreadsheet challenged.

And this idea is yet one more of those walls to be tackled.

No -- we don't yet fully understand what happens when we place loaded
springs against the back of a piano soundboard. With continued
experimentation and discussion, however, we will. In the end we may reach
the conclusion that it all is not worth the effort and set the process
aside. But at least we will have learned something more about the piano
along the way.

Regards,

Del