Hearing problems/hard hammers

[Porritt, David]

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Barbara:

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I would certainly vote in favor of replacing the (now ruined) hammers
with Ronsen Wurzens.  My experience with them here has been very
favorable.  They are easy to voice and stay voiced longer than any I've
worked with before.

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What little I've seen of the Edwards string covers is that they don't
affect the sound much if at all.  Part of their advertising is that the
sound is not affected. =20

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dave

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David M. Porritt

dporritt@smu.edu

________________________________

From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Barbara Richmond
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 6:35 PM
To: Pianotech
Subject: Hearing problems/hard hammers

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Greetings all,

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Nope, I don't have hearing problems (at least, I hope not), but I have a
customer who has developed a neurological problem that affects his
hearing.   His piano, a Seiler 8' grand, model 240.  This is a piano I
started servicing 13 or 14 years ago, then I moved away. Now I'm back
and have been asked to service it again. =20

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While I was gone the piano had some work done on it and the tech used
plastic and acetone on the hammers.  Whoa!  Anyway, I was pretty shocked
at the sound and did what I could to get rid of the plastic sizzle the
first time I saw it.  The owner was pleased with what I did, but I still
wasn't totally happy with the voicing.  I figured I'd try to do more
with each visit (we're on a quarterly schedule). =20

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So, yesterday, I did some minor filing and needling, working to remove
what was left of the sizzle and improve the bloom and sustain.  I
thought it was coming along, but was reluctant to bring the attack down
too much.  As it turns out, I could have done more, because when I
e-mailed the customer this morning, asking him if the tone had improved,
he said it was still too harsh. =20

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Ah.  Hmmm.

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I see my choices as really going after those extremely hard hammers with
motorized needling and/or softener, or replace them with something
softer like the Ronsen Wurzens.  The customer was very interested when I
mentioned going to a softer hammer.  I guess I'm looking for the hammer
that would be the easiest to control and hold the voicing longer.  I
keep thinking these hard hammers will always need a lot of voicing.

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Actually, I've never really liked the sound of this instrument.  The
sound is thin and nasal.  I'm afraid my attempts to open up the hammers
with traditional needling haven't been very successful.   Maybe all I
need to do is bring out the big guns to make a difference.  Or, (unless
I destroy the hammers) will it always sound like a piano with hard
hammers? =20

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This case is somewhat more complicated than others because of the
hearing disorder.

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The more I write this, the more I think I should just replace the
hammers and quit fooling around with those bits of granite.=20

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Comments?

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Oh, yeah, there's another question.  I've never heard a piano with an
Edwards String Cover on it.  How does it affect tone and or volume?

=20

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Thanks much,

=20

Barbara Richmond


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