Hi Dale,
Pursuant to my phone calls to you and these recent posts, the Weickert felts
appear to be an excellent new choice; and I look forward to using them ASAP.
I have been wondering, however, where are those Renner Blue advocates out
there, of which there must be many. I know of several Renner-only proponents
(and first-rate technicians to boot), but I do not think they subscribe to
this list. I don't wish to start a mine-is-better-than-yours debate; but it
seems that a professional discussion of the relative experiences and
anecdotal input on these matters along with specific voicing techniques
would be worthwhile. Is a consensus of thought developing out there?
Many experienced techs are loathe to use S&S hammers, either in the past or
present, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is they feel they
cannot get the bite they are looking for. They opt for Renner or other or
even Hamburg Steinway as they prefer to work the hammer down rather than up.
Other fine techs take the opposite view by only using S&S as they feel they
can't get the warmth or stability they are looking for. You and others have
explained quite well the merits of the new Weickerts and I am very
appreciative of that.
I don't know if this post will catch on, and I doubt that any of us out here
would be interested in a free for all; that is why my idea is to consider
the opinions of experienced techs when it comes time to choose hammers for
performance venue instruments such as Bs and Ds. We all know that such
pianos need to bite as well as carry, and that most performers are going to
voice frustration if this isn't the case.
Having said this, I think it reasonable to assume the standard axioms such
as: It all depends on the needs of the performer; Let the piano tell you
what it needs; We don't all have the same sense of tone;
you_fill_in_the_blanks.
I would hope for professional replies, though I am aware that in the world
of Lists and Groups many believe that a no-holds-barred approach is the most
democratic, informative and should be considered the norm.
At any rate, I am interested in such an airing, and I believe that such
discussions have gone on in the past. Should this idea become a thread, the
Subject line may need revising.
Thanks again to you and Ray for all the R&D work and its value to the trade.
Respectfully,
Nick Gravagne, RPT
Piano Technicians Guild
Member Society Manufacturing Engineers
Voice Mail 928-476-4143
_____
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of erwinspiano at aol.com
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 10:47 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org; oorebeek at planet.nl
Subject: [pianotech] Weickert special felt update
Hi Andre and all
Ray & I are still learning & refining the Ronsen process with this felt.
Ray & I have received the latest iterations of this felt & will have product
& piano at the convention in Burbank
Any way the good news is
I sent out a 1971 Steinway D rebuild to Sunnyvale Ca. on Sat with a set of
Weickert special concert density (concert density...my term) hammers that is
tonally outside of the box. It was not a new board, but, It was fantastic.
It is very much like the first test set I installed on the Kawai kg-3 last
summer & was curious about the density of those first hammer sets/sheets. It
works very well with Rays pressing method.
On the Sunnyvale D... the initial sound was slightly dark in the bass &
low tenor but absolutely huge. In My Opinion, For New York Ds to sound like
N.Y. Ds' they require a firm crown so I put about 4 to 6 drops of very weak
key top solution on the crown of the bass hammers & one drop on each string
cut from not 21 to note 35. That's it. Nothing but the initial filing on
notes 35 thru 88. Break in solution if you will. It was so easy I felt
guilty
Yes, the hammers would have played in, but the time it takes to do this
is not always available for D's that are going right into in concert
situations. However, this is absolutely a great choice of felt & an
extremely versatile hammer for this application.
This Steinway D had more color than a box of color crayons. Pure tonal
power,Lush,gorgeous,clear,sustain,projection, definition. I'm telling you,
Wurzen is on the right track.
This piano ( the D) was allegedly in the Custody of Van Cliburn at one
time. Probably one of many. You Know? The client is a virtuoso & can really
play. She was thrilled. Truly a fantastic sound.The voicing protocol was so
simple it should be a secret. Never laid a needle in it except to test
density. The really fussy work in my practice is prepping the set for an
extremely even hammer weight curve and a beautifully shaped hammer. This is
where the time is spent when doing custom action balancing & concert level
voicing but the voicing time in this case was very little. Truly amazing!
This felt is so resilient & bounces off the string so willingly that the
voicing stability & longevity should be fantastic & simple to maintain. The
felt is very promising...understament!
Dale Erwin
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