Wurzen Hammers

[Erwinspiano@aol.com]

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Good post Joe
  I share much of your work logic when it come to hammers  . I will concede 
that there are some very good hammers being made  by  Renner for  Andre & Co.  
that will  do essentially what  Ronsen Wurzens do with out years of needling 
or the customary voicing  instability that charachterizes so many hard & 
usually never voiced properly  brands of hammers. There are many fine techs who 
prefer this style of  tone  building & those that do it well ,I salute you.
    I have yet to personally encounter this  type Euro Wurzen but under the 
right circumstance I would . Probably a concert  situation but for now I'm 
getting everything I ever wanted in the tone dept.  with very little manual labor. 
I think I'm getting Lazy....... make that  spoiled
 As to playing in I'm not sure work hardening is the  appropriate terminology 
to what is actually happening.   I consider  the crown packing phenomenon  a 
very  important tonal  component  Further  observations are that Medium  
density hammers  such as  Ronsen , Isaac or perhaps   Euro Wurzens & others  , 
squash down & take  a set.  Compression set , if you will , &  internal friction 
is somewhat  rearranged.
 I've seen some pretty goofy looking shapes of hammers  that sounded good in 
spite of it.  Just my take
  Dale Erwin

 As I have been using hammers from Ronsen  for over 30 years, I pretty much 
know what to expect. The last few notes in  the treble were weak. I expected 
that. Ray presses the hammers as hard as he  can, in that area, w/o busting 
up/distorting the moulding. This is a GOOD  thing, as it allows the tech to bring 
the hammers up to an acceptable  brilliance, rather than other hammers that 
are too bright at the onset and get  absolutely crappy with a little playing. I 
hate voicing, i.e. sticking  needles, consequently, the less of that I can do 
and still achieve a good  overall tone, the better!!!
Now that the piano has been played, (heavily), by  some of my pianistic 
friends,<G>, the tone is really coming into it's  own. All of this w/o sticking 
needles into the felt and destroying the  interlock of the fiber(s)! To me that 
is what it's all about: With a good  scale, good board/bridge, good action and 
attention to detail. Needles are the  LAST thing I want to do or need, in most 
cases
But, I digress from the initial "hypothesis" of  "work hardening hammers". I 
believe the hammer MUST be played in, in order to  achieve it's maximum 
potential. How long this takes, depends on the hammer and  the piano AND it's amount 
of use. This "playing in" can be sped up with my  "Pounder", but this alone 
will not do the whole job. If anyone were to ask me  what hammer I would 
recommend for the maximum tone production, for a given  piano, I would say only one 
word: WURZEN! The cost is so very much the same,  from one set to the other, 
that there is no contest....Buy the  best!
Joe Garrett, R.P.T.
Captain, Tool  Police
Squares R I



 
 
Erwins Pianos  Restorations 
4721 Parker Rd.
Modesto, Ca 95357
209-577-8397
Rebuilt  Steinway , Mason &Hamlin  Sales
www.Erwinspiano.com

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