? Hi Terry ?Terry ? Sorry you didn't, find it. Hopefully David will jump in here. ?? ???The advice?David Love a year or two back got me to thinking especially in conjunction with our respective journeys into the world of Soundboard design. ?It was simply this : instead of assuming?that Brand A or?R or R or S?would yield the best results in a piano,?simply hang a couple test samples in your rebuild before committing to a particular type or version. By doing this an instant idea can be assessed as to what you will hear and need to do to build the tone up or take it down? or let it just play in. ?? Also using a no 6 needle? sample felt densities of the old hammers, especially if the piano yet sounds decent even though the hammers are worn. This can be a massive indicator, I've learned to listen to this ,the piano is talking to?me. It's telling me high density is ok. ?? If the piano is screeching at me & the hammers?are hard, it's telling me, no, no, not more petrified felt hammers. grin ? Every belly system?is different (as you know)?& this is?why we voice hammers, which is?to make the density requirement of the hammer maximize & match?the impedance values of that board. Which is, by the way, why there are no perfect hammers...well, except Rays. grin. ?However, the closer you call it before the hammer choice is made the less work you will need to do to get your desired tone. ?? If a given belly system is stiff it may ask for a highly densified hammer that can be needled appropriately. If it is very compliant resonate system then simply using a high density hammer by default?may not work well & much effort will be expended attempting to blend the voicing of this hammer with that particular system. The same is conversely true. for example ??? I sampled hammers in a 9 ft Grotrian 2 years ago. I found it to be a stigny system & held not much hope.?However upon sampling?it, it revelaed??that ?it wanted the Abel performance hammers from Piano- tek. A very dense hammer(an oddly cold pressed cousin)?but on this piano it was instant sound and only the 5 th 6 th octaves required needle work of about an hour. It didn't want Renners nor Ronsen or the usual Abels. This was a light bulb moment for me so now I carry a?sample bag of various hammers from various makers & all 4 of the felts that Ray uses at Ronsen. ?Some on shanks, some not so?I can pop hammers on or off shanks in the piano and do sampling. I?usually do this work in the shop when?possible ?SO keep samples handy that you can temporarily install in the piano before you tear it down or decide on a hammer choice.? ? By in large if a soundboard system is built in a reasonable manner? 95% of my tone needs? can be met with one of Rays hammer felts.?Don't be fooled into thinking that just because a Yamaha or Kawai etc came with high density hammers that this what needs to go back on.. They might, but I've never used high density hammers in them. I do believe there 9 ftrs need them however. ? Dale Erwin Dale - I have searched the archives for comments by David Love on hammer sampling and wasn't able to find anything. Do you have a link? Would you care to comment on this? David? I'm?presently in the process of installing a set of hammers on a Del Fandrich redesigned belly (1890s 6'4" Knabe)?and can use all the?help I can get - pretty much a new world to me. Whereas previous hammer installations on other similar projects have been successful, it has always seemed to be a bit?of a shot in the dark for me - I'd just kinda hold my breath and see what shook out - I'd sure like to go about the?selection/preparation process more methodically.?Thanks. ? Terry Farrell ----- Original Message ----- from: erwinspiano at aol.com? SNIP ?It's still a good idea to practice hammer sampling that David Love has been a proponent of. See archives for details. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20081015/539b1891/attachment.html
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