Secret Hammerhead Formula ?
Cameron R Voorhees
My parents have an old Acrosonic spinet piano. For many years it had a
very bright "tinny" tone with an almost metallic attack sound. A couple of
years ago they had it tuned by a local piano tuner who performed this
unusual treatment. He injected the felt hammerheads with some sort of
solution and let it set for 24 hours. This was supposed to soften up the
heads. I was amazed at the results! The tone warmed up tremendously and was
enjoyable for me to play. I would venture to say that voicing alone
probably wouldn't have effected a change to this degree. However, the
change lasted about 6-8 months and began to revert to it's original tone.
When asked, the tuner wouldn't say what the solution was, saying it was
a trade secret.
I have asked several tuners and piano dealers about this and not one has
ever heard of it. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this?
Is there any long term side effects, perhaps after repeated applications? I
would appreciate any input you could give.
Sincerely,
Cameron V.
Thomas D. Seay
In article <01bbc371$f00375e0$0100007f@localhost>, "Cameron R Voorhees"
<ann...@aloha.net> wrote:
Hi Cameron,
Most likely what your tuner used was a solution which is essentially
fabric softener, although it is impossible to say for sure. Some people
use this method for softening hard hammers, but Iąm a little suspect of it
myself. Personally, I would rather take the time to file and needle the
hammers in the traditional way. I believe that it is much better for the
hammers, although the łSnuggles˛ method will work, albeit with somewhat
limited and short-lived results.
Good luck.
--
Thomas D. Seay
The University of Texas at Austin
Raul Guidi
> My parents have an old Acrosonic spinet piano. For many years it had a
> very bright "tinny" tone with an almost metallic attack sound. A couple of
> years ago they had it tuned by a local piano tuner who performed this
> unusual treatment. He injected the felt hammerheads with some sort of
> solution and let it set for 24 hours. This was supposed to soften up the
> heads. I was amazed at the results! The tone warmed up tremendously and was
> enjoyable for me to play. I would venture to say that voicing alone
> probably wouldn't have effected a change to this degree. However, the
> change lasted about 6-8 months and began to revert to it's original tone.
> When asked, the tuner wouldn't say what the solution was, saying it was
> a trade secret.
> I have asked several tuners and piano dealers about this and not one has
> ever heard of it. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this?
> Is there any long term side effects, perhaps after repeated applications? I
> would appreciate any input you could give.
>
> Sincerely,
> Cameron V.
Product is call hammer softener and is available from piano parts
suppliers to the trade, comes in small bottles .
Raul Guidi.
A440A
There are many techs that soften hammers by solutions. In many cases, it
is the only viable way.
Repeated treatments will be less and less effective.
A quick shot of steam will have similar effects, but a caution to the
do-it-yourselfers......A new set of hammers is an expensive proposition,
if you are experimenting blindly, best do it on a junker piano for the
first four or five times.
regards
Ed Foote
Precision Piano Works
Nashville, Tenn.