Upright Treble Hammer Weight

[Erwinspiano at aol.com]

Hi Terry
  In most cases why would the weight in a large old upright be that  much 
different from a low medium hammer weight for a similar sized grands.   I also 
taper the treble as Joe suggested to get the weight down to something in  the 5 
ish range but the strike weight for note A 0 sound too heavy JMO. I'd be  
shooting for a hammer weight of about nine grams max.
  Dale

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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