recommendations for new hammers?

Stephen Airy stephenairy@fastmail.fm
Fri, 08 Nov 2002 11:21:53 -0800


I'm in the process of restringing my piano, and until recently, I wasn't
in a financial position to be able to get new hammers, but now I expect
that I may be able to replace them.  (They need it anyway - they're
wearing down thin, the grooves are fairly deep, and I don't think it's a
good idea to use new strings with old hammers for regulation/performance
reasons.)

Anyway...  I have a website set up where you can listen to clips of
pianos that have a tone similar to what I want, and you can also listen
to what my piano sounds like in the "before" state.  It should be pretty
much self-explanatory, but if you have any questions, feel free to email
me.

http://pianoplayer88key.hey.nu/pianotone/pt.html

My question is... what brand/type of hammers would you recommend to be
able to get the kind of tone I'm looking for out of the box with
minimal/no voicing (needling/lacquer)?

note: I prefer a medium/warm tone like the moderate playing clips - I put
the other few ones in there just in case it'd be possible to get
different voicing for different volume levels.  I would like a decent
bass section, extra brilliance when I play FF/FFF (very loud - pounding
on the keys), and be able to have a soft, mellow tone when I play lightly
(pp or so).  I also like a bell-like upper treble like what you can hear
in the clips that have the treble playing.
-- 
  Stephen Airy
  stephenairy@fastmail.fm

-- 
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