> He could also try switching around >a few hammers to evaluate going lighter before any (semi-)permanent changes >are made. > >Terry Farrell This is a very good notion. On the Kawai in question, I was worried about the tone weakening, but I was surprised at how little it did. Also, if the tone seems very bright and hard, maybe a little weakening might not be a bad thing. The Kawai's room is live, with a big brick wall. I agree that doing some work with samples would be prudent before undertaking a major change in hammer weight. It might be interesting to try some other types of hammers, i.e. cold pressed, etc., as samples before taking on the whole job. Possibly a hammer built lighter to begin with might work better than "liposuction" on a hammer with dense hot-pressed felt. On the other hand, if the Yamaha hammers have, by some miracle, been over-voiced to the soft side, that might lead to a feeling that the weight was too great, since one would have to work much harder to get loud volume. It also might be good to work on the center pinning on a few notes, since that can often change the tone and hence the perception of touch. If the pinning is too loose one gets a floppy but heavy feeling, and a lack of control. I forget how new this Yamaha is. If it's new, the pinning is probably excellent. If it has had a few years of hard playing, repinning would probably be a good idea. One thing about fiddling with hammer weight is that while one might risk having to put on a new set of hammers, that's as far as the risk goes. Susan
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