Greetings, Arthur writes: >I am putting a new set of Steinway hammers shanks and flanges on a 1901 model A grand. >I was told by Kent Webb to use 1part lacquer and 3 parts acetone and to soak the hammers completely. If >anyone has experince with this method or a different method your help would be greatly appreciated. Yes, i did that once. The hammers sounded good for about three hours of playing, and then some of them began sounding like a tin can. Sticking needles down in the crown, as per factory instruction, took out the clang, but killed the tonal range. Since then, I have avoided soaking the hammers and have found much nicer results with a different approach. >I am afraid of getting these hammers too hard and have difficulty voicing them. You should be. I feel that a completely soaked hammer produces a narrow range of tone. Our brand new D at Vanderbilt was only played for about a week before the head of the piano department refused to use it for a performance due to the harshness that had appeared. I think a premium instrument should be more durable than that, so I approach the hammers differently. I would suggest that before hanging, you use 4:1 lacquer and thinner, and soak the hammers' shoulders so that the penetration creates a halfmoon shaped area, extending from the lower and mid shoulder towards the tip of the hammer core. This will take approx one eyedropper full on both sides and leaves a wedge of unlacqued felt under the strike point, which can then be juiced up as needed after the hammers are in the piano. The very top octave just might require a full soak, though. Good luck, Ed Foote RPT
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