Jurgen said: "Hello Joe, I am aware that Schimmel used a white felt front rail punching in the 1990s. I'm not sure who manufactured that felt. Perhaps you have some information on that. Otherwise, you may be jumping to conclusions to assume that any firm, white 6 mm thick felt is made by Wurzen or is indeed the Crescendo felt. The Crescendo Punching felt has only been available for a few years. Since then, there have been some changes made to the formulation of the felt to yet improve on the quality and resilience. I am no expert on felt - felt making is a world unto itself. But I have been studying the subject and am gaining some insights into the complexity and diversity of felt production. Contrary to what you write, the Crescendo felt is not "hard/firm pressed". Rather, it gets its density through a proprietary method of "fulling" which involves agitation of the felt fleeces while using special lubricants to attain a deep interlocking of the wool fibers. This way, you get a firm felt with a lot of natural resilience of the wool fiber. This is what sets this special felt apart from other felts, which use heat and pressure and sometimes steam to attain density and firmness. A by-product of that process is hardness. Resilience is lost, for the most part. This leads to a knocking sound when used is an application such as a front rail punching. I am constantly getting feedback from technicians who are amazed that Crescendo punchings can give such a defined key dip and aftertouch yet still cut back on key noise. Just today I heard about about an accomplished player who perceived the touch as "softer" after the old, mushy punchings had been replaced by Crescendos. Perception is in the fingers/ears of the pianist, of course, so who is to argue? I suggest replacing the original Schimmel front rail punchings with Crescendos and try them out. Just my biased view <G> Jurgen Goering Piano Forte Supply Jurgen, Thank you for the info and insight.<G> One of the things I looked for, when inspecting the Schimmel punchings, was whether they were tapered. They were not. I just thought that, perhaps, it was an older version of the current Wurzen front rail punchings aka Crescendo. With the information you have given me, I suspect this was an experiment on the part of Schimmel, long before our beloved Crescendo Punchings were developed.<G> In any event, I'm going to change out the "Hard" punchings for something similar to the M&H punchings, as the client is happy with the "feel" she gets on the M&H. Personally, I'd opt for the Crescendos, but it's likely the client would be a bit wary of something that looks so much like the ones that are giving her fits.<G> Best Regards, Joe Garrett, R.P.T. (Oregon) Captain, Tool Police Squares R I -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20060429/b5064ef6/attachment.html
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