[pianotech] Voicing the new Mason & Hamlins

Nicholas Gravagne ngravagne at gmail.com
Tue Sep 28 10:14:45 MDT 2010


List,

A store client now floors four new Mason & Hamlins of different models. They
all seem to possess an inherent high quality tonal envelope and sustain (but
tricky to fully assess as they are). Tone via hammers, however ------ all
sections of the scale sound like artillery, and the melody section more like
a gun shot in a tile bathroom. Bruce Clark at M&H informs that the factory
prefers to ship these pianos out "on the bright side as most technicians are
more comfortable taking the tone down rather than building it up". Obviously
I want to retain appropriate power, but at the same time uncover the
inherent musicality.

I understand that M&H uses custom Renner hammers. Should I expect a ton of
arm-straining needling ahead, or do these hammers respond relatively quickly
and easily?

Anyway, I would like to hear from those of you who have voiced these new
pianos. Any tips or advice would be appreciated (short of  "rip out the
hammers and install something else" ---- a non-option). Just suck it up?

Can anyone weigh in on the use of multi-needled voicing pliers? And where
are these obtained?

In any case, I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks

-- 
Nick Gravagne, RPT
AST Mechanical Engineering
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