The all new Weickert felt hammer by Ronsen

[David Love]

I think these hammers fill a niche that is not well represented by hammer
manufacturing these days.  From Bacon (or even the Wurzen felt which is
somewhat more dense than Bacon but less than the Weickert) there is quite a
leap to the next level as represented by Abel Naturals or Renner Blues.  In
this respect I would call the  Weickert felt hammers medium density.  They
do not require needling to open up, create flexibility or tone them down.
The set I tried did require some hardening in the upper 2 ½ octaves or so
and a bit in the monochords but a very mild lacquer solution of about 9:1
was enough with an extra application in the topmost octave.  The tenor was
just about perfect as far as I was concerned: a firm and clear tone without
harshness but also without the collapse and slightly muted quality that an
unreinforced Bacon felt hammer tends to give.  I found the 16lb hammers too
bulky and heavy (though nicely shaped) and would generally opt for the 14lb
set, but I tend toward lighter hammers—at least by today’s standards.  My
target is typically 7 – 8 grams for hammer number 40.  

 

I would still use the Bacon felt on certain types of pianos (they work well
on older Steinways where the board is somewhat weak and you can harden them
judiciously) but this offers a nice next step in the hardness continuum and
I can see using it on many different types of pianos.  

 

I would still like to see this hammer hardened starting gradually from about
F#5 to the top either in the press or by some pretreatment.  I would prefer
that sets at this level not require any hardening except perhaps at the
extremes.  Even with that, at least with the one set I installed, it
performs very well. 

 

One other thing, I would like to see yet another iteration with an even
firmer pressing overall for use on big performance pianos or pianos that
simply require a firmer hammer.  That would give what I have been looking
from a hammer manufacturer for a long time which is a hammer that can be
ordered with three different pressings (soft, medium, firm) creating a
starting point that one could choose depending on the requirements of the
piano and/or customer.    

 

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net
www.davidlovepianos.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Andrew Anderson
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 10:20 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: The all new Weickert felt hammer by Ronsen

 

How do these compare to Abel Naturals?  Or the Wurzen AAA felt hammers from
Ronson?

 

Andrew Anderson

 

 

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