Steven, No armor needed. Good question, but if you wanted a simple answer "buy this, or that hammer" that's difficult , hence the number and variety of posts. We're all learning, hopefully. I've taken a dozen or more classes on hammers in the last few years and am still learning from Dale, Ray, Rick, Andre, and other leaders in the field. Since your post was right after my comments I hope you didn't hear anything critical in my language, because there was certainly none intended. Back to hammers... In a recent voicing class Dale showed us how one set of hammers flunked his "needle test" (thanks for that one Dale!) and another of the same make/brand was just fine. He's even sent hammers back to the company as "rejected". Dale's class on voicing is excellent and if you get a chance it's a great one to take more than once. I bought a set of the cheapest hammers a company was selling and wasted $185.00 plus all my time. (Sounded BAD ... right out of the box) I've hung Yamaha hammers on Yamaha pianos that sounded good, and others that sounded bad in spite of any voicing technique I tried. Lot's to consider here, and all hammers (even the same make) are NOT created equal. David's advice (below) and Ron's (and others) are also valuable. Sometimes it takes a question like yours to help us codify things, root out some bad ideas and crystallize our own opinions. Please don't be offended by "e-language" because you can't really see us smiling behind the keyboard. Everyone's friendly here, well , except maybe Ron... <G> (Just kidding. Ron's the best.) Regards, Jim Busby From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Love Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 9:16 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Yamaha Hammer Suggestion I'm not sure why you would be reticent to post because of the discussion so far or why your armor is up. Contributions are just information with some of the points being raised on how to best answer your initial question which functions as a good point of departure on the general topic. Hammer selection is important and should be a custom process taking into consideration each piano, each venue and each customer. Unfortunately, the choices are often made in terms of which supplier one likes or what's familiar or what's popular. That can lead to unsatisfactory results and lots of extra work all the way up to putting on a different set. So it turns out there are a few possible choices for this piano and the best thing is to assess the situation and the particular needs and then, if possible, sample some hammers to see what gets you close to what you are looking for. Not every piano gives you the same number of choices. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Steven Hopp Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 7:24 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Yamaha Hammer Suggestion Gentlemen, With all due respect to the vast knowledge and experience this list holds, I appreciate your continued discussion on this subject. As tends to be the case in this forum we answered the question and then found fault with the person or person's need to perform better or become more educated. In a brief question in an email it is impossible to relate all of one's thoughts towards an entire project. I simply wanted to know if there were any suggestions for hammers for this piano based on someone else's experience. I realize there will be work to do beyond glue.... I do not claim to know it all but it would be nice to not have reticence when it comes to asking questions. My armor is up. Respond if you must. Thank you to those who have kindly given valid suggestions. I'm going to work..... Steven Hopp Midland, TX -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100205/05098003/attachment-0001.htm>
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