Upright Treble Hammer Weight

[Farrell]

I am replacing hammers in an old upright. I have a concern regarding hammer weights and how they follow (or rather don't follow) the Stanwood curves. I have used Stanwood curves in the past to weigh off upright hammers for tonal purposes - I realize it affects touchweight minimally - although it does affect the inertia portion of touchweight.

I have purchased a set of Isaac Credenza hammers for the piano. SW for the A0 is about 10.8g - right in the lower end of the midsection of Stanwood's curves, and probably about right for a smallish piano (52"). SW with the Isaac C88 is 6.9g - right at the most extreme heavy treble hammer on the Stanwood curves. I presume reducing treble hammer weight will provide better tone for the piano (maybe not - I guess a 9-foot grand has a similar speaking length?). As you can see in the picture below, the original C88 core is a lot smaller than the Isaac - 1.7g compared to 2.9g. If the new C88 hammer had a core like the original, that hammer weight would fall in about the middle of the Stanwood curves - a much better match for the bass.

I wonder how any Pianotech List participants (and/or lurkers!) have addressed control of upright hammer weight in a situation like this.

I don't have any similar new hammers where C88 is much lighter to try to compare tone.

And what the heck kind of wood was used on these old actions? It is very dark right through - some kind of cedar (no pleasant odor)?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Terry Farrell

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