Boston Hammers, was: Interesting Piano Belly - Mehlin Grand

[David Love]

While I think that the soundboard assembly contributes to differences
between pianos, I think the issue of so many varied and seemingly
contradictory hammer techniques lies more in the differences between hammer
sets (of the same manufacturer) and differences in individual technicians'
conceptions and tastes in tone.  Those who work with Renner hammers can
certainly cite great differences between sets of hammers in terms of
hardness and the requisite amount of needling to get a resilient tone and
feel.  Similarly, sets of Steinway hammers can vary greatly in softness and
just how much filing or hardening is necessary.

In this area there often seems to be no consensus, though I think there can
be in certain aspects of voicing.  All hammers need a firm foundation and
resilience.  How you build that will vary with each hammer.  The ultimate
goal is maximized power without distortion and sustain.  Attack, or the
texture of the strikepoint itself, is another story.  Here there is a wider
spectrum of acceptability from sharp to fuzzy and everywhere in between.
The differences between technicians treatment of hammers, in my opinion, has
more to do with varying conceptions about the foundations of tone, combined
with different tastes in tonal attack, than it does in different soundboard
assemblies.

David Love


----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Nossaman" <RNossaman@cox.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: July 19, 2002 9:16 PM
Subject: Re: Boston Hammers, was: Interesting Piano Belly - Mehlin Grand



It's also amazing how the same hammer can be a whole lot of things right
out of the box according to what the soundboard assembly and scaling
provide it to work with. I read volumes on the proscribed intricate,
varied, and contradictory methods of tone building for different brands of
hammers in different makes and models of pianos and marvel at the reports
of a specific brand of hammer being either marshmallows or rocks, depending
on the piano in which they're hung. So how much do you suppose is the
hammer, and how much the soundboard? No pressure. You have sixty seconds.

Ron N