Yamaha action with Steinway/European hammers

[Brad Smith, RPT]

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Hey, 
I'm planning to install new hammers on a 20+ year old Yamaha C3.   Nice
piano, good power, just has worn out hammers and key bushings. 
The least complicated thing to do is install Yamaha hammers, and in this
case they would be 'pre-hung' from Yamaha onto new Yamaha shanks & flanges. 

OR....
I could install some other type of hammer, Renner, Abel, Wurzen (haven't
tried yet) or even Steinway, onto the existing shanks/flanges to go after a
different sound.
(Knuckles are decent enough to reuse existing shanks, even though I would
rather just go with all new parts. )  

Question is, does anyone have insights on the benefits of putting different
hammers (i.e. non hard-pressed types) onto an 
excellent Yamaha action?   ( I love the precision of the Japanese/Yamaha,
but I also serve several pianists who are dyed in the wool Steinway people.
who don't care for the tone of Asian hammers, even after careful-balanced
voicing). 

I want to offer some different options to my customer, while being careful
not to promise something I can't completely predict. 

I thought one possible course would be to offer them a different sounding
hammer, onto their existing shanks/flanges, 
and if we ultimately aren't satisfied with it, we could go back and do the
uncomplicated Yamaha pre-hung hammers as originally planned. 
It's a bit experimental, because I can't promise that they'll love it.
Because of that, I would offer them that option at a reduced
rate.   My sense is that we might really end up with an incredible piano,
with a wider dynamic range, but retaining the Japanese precision.
With a reduced rate, I feel I am 'compensating' the customer to some degree
for taking some chances with me, on a more experimental strategy. 

What would you do?  
I have a good relationship with this customer, and built up trust enough
that they would stick with me through an 'experiment'. 
I always try to be as upfront as possible about what I can promise and
predict...and what I cannot. 

Thanks in advance !!


Best regards,
Brad Smith, RPT 
www.SmithPiano.com

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