A question about hammer construction

[Jurgen Goering]

It sounds like the salesman showing his ignorance to his clients, but 
of course they couldn't tell.  Just about everything he says is pretty 
much wrong.  Hammers without underfelt are not necessarily softer, 
cheaper, lower quality, shorter lasting, and they are by no means 
indicative of the quality of the instrument.  Today, most 
bottom-of-the-barrel pianos have hammers with underfelt.

Although hammers without underfelt are not found in many pianos made 
today , in the past there were many fantastic instruments that had 
single layer felt hammers.  I am thinking about older Bechsteins, 
Blüthners, etc.
The presence of an underfelt and its characteristics flow into hammer 
performance just as the size, shape, and wood species used in the 
molding do.

Hammer felt making is a world unto itself, and the processes of 
manufacturing that felt into hammers are precise, complex and varied.  
I think everyone would be better served if piano sales people like the 
one in question were more knowledgeable about the instruments they are 
selling.  Simplifying things for the average client is fine, but one 
has to at least start and end up with facts.  It doesn't sound like one 
could learn much about pianos (or hammers at least)  by talking to this 
salesman.


Jurgen Goering
Piano Forte Supply
(250) 754-2440
info at pianofortesupply.com
http://www.pianofortesupply.com


On Mar 16, 2007, at 22:02, Geoff Sykes wrote:
> This afternoon, after store hours, I asked a salesman at the store I 
> work at one day a week about the way he describes hammer construction 
> and performance to his customers. Basically he is telling customers 
> that the colored section next to the wood is a second layer that makes 
> the hammer harder, (or whatever), and that the multiple layered 
> hammers perform better, last longer and are subsequently more 
> expensive and therefore only found on pianos that cost a little more. 
> Single layer hammers, (solid white), on the other hand, are softer, 
> don't perform as well and wear out quicker.
>  
> I shared with him that I seem to remember "learning" somewhere that 
> the colored section was, functionally, simply that. A colored section. 
> That the coloring of that section was used to identify hammers made to 
> certain specifications and/or for certain buyers. Also, that hammers 
> with that colored layer were only found in pianos whose manufacturers 
> went to the trouble to actually define those characteristics to the 
> hammer manufacturer.
>  
> The fact that the colored layer hammers are only found in the slightly 
> more expensive better made pianos is a given. As is the fact that the 
> colored layer also usually indicates a higher quality hammer. My 
> conversation with this salesman was not an argument. I was just 
> curious and was hoping to learn something. But at the end of our 
> conversation we both had the same questions:
>  
> :  Is that colored section actually a second layer? (We could not tell 
> by feeling it.)
>
> : Is that colored section, or second layer, actually functionally 
> different than the rest of the hammer?
>
> : In other words, does it actually do more than merely act as an 
> identifier for the characteristics of that hammer?
>  
> The way he describes hammers to the customer probably doesn't 
> require change. Simplifying things for the average customer is not 
> necessarily a bad thing. We just want to know for ourselves.
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 4201 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20070318/a1ec70d0/attachment.bin