Well I can agree what pianos will respond differently for different hammer types. Thats been one of my main points all along in these discussions about lacquered hammers vs tensioned/needled hammers. Just a few weeks back you (I think) made the exact point that it was not nearly so relavant what kind of hammer one used as the experienced voicedr could achieve similiar (read --no significant difference--) results. Yet here, somehow Renner/Ronsen Wurzens and in general tensioned hammers are equated with possessing special characteristics that can cause soundboard distortions. I find these too standpoints difficult at best to unite from a strictly argumentative point of view, much less a practical perspective. As for recommending a tech on what hammers to use... seems really more a twofold question. On the one hand you have what the technician is already familiar with with regards to voicing techniques. Not neccessarilly the best idea to reccommend a tech use a set of hammers said tech has no idea how to treat. On the other hand you have the more general question relating to what hammers you yourself could successfully use on the same piano-- why you choose them and how you treat them. Two different sides of the same <<question>> really. All this said... I cant say I see any reason to subscribe to the idea that tensioned hammers will cause a soundboard to distort when laquered hammers wont... let alone hammers that have reasonable weight characteristics. A soundboard simply has to function as it is meant too with in reasonable parameters... if its so screwed up that a hammer needs to be so soft and light as to avoid driving it into some or another form of distortion, then it seems to me the soundboard should be fixed first. I dismiss hammers that need lacquer for entirely other reasons. I just dont like the way they sound. But then thats the great thing about dissagreement eh ??? Leads to the very diversity seems to provide the right piano for just about everyone ! Cheers RicB David Love wrote: >I can't speak for your experience or position about whether a piano does >or doesn't deserve a new set of hammers. My main point was that >different pianos will respond differently to different density and >weight hammers. You can explain it however you wish. My recommendation >is that one should try different samples when considering changing >hammers and judge for yourself based on what you hear. I wouldn't >dismiss a hammer just because it might need a bit of lacquer. But >that's just my humble opinion. I always defer to the classroom monitor. > > >David Love >davidlovepianos@comcast.net > > >
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