Dale's question is a good one. If you assume they were lacquered simply because they are very bright, that is a bad assumption. Renner hammers in general are quite dense/hard, and will produce a very bright sound out of the box. They need to be deep needled to develop a good range of tone, and some of the harder versions (especially the ones they make for Hamburg Steinway, but Renner Premium Blue as well) need A LOT of needling.
Check the
Voicing the Renner Hammer for some details of recommended techniques. When the hammers are already hung, it can be next to impossible to press the needles in when you use the classic "keyframe in your lap" approach, using forearm muscles. Much better to support the hammers on a bench. You can pull the stack and insert something like a length of 2 x 4 under the tails for support, with the hammerheads as close to the edge of the bench as possible. Then stand, and use your weight to press the needles in. For very hard hammers, the first insertion should start at the widest part of the hammer profile and should go in parallel with the lower shoulder. The next insertion should be a couple mm above and parallel to the first, etc. That way you open the outer layers of the hammer in turn, allowing penetration deeper inside as you move up.
You can also keep the stack on, and support the hammers with angle iron spanning the stack and supported on blocks on each end. See
this set of photos (the first three - the others are for upright) to get the idea.
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Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
http://fredsturm.net "When I smell a flower, I don't think about how it was cultivated. I like to listen to music the same way." -Federico Mompou
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-23-2014 16:45
From: Dale Probst
Subject: Softening hammers
Hi Jeff,
How did you determine the hammers had been lacquered?
Best,
DP
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Dale Probst
Registered Piano Technician
Wichita Falls TX
dale@wardprobst.com
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-23-2014 16:23
From: Fred Sturm
Subject: Softening hammers
Soak the lacquer out. See my article in PTJ June, 2009, p. 36. Also search archives. A search on "removing lacquer from hammers" gets a good start. This was a pretty good thread on the subject.
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Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
http://fredsturm.net
"When I smell a flower, I don't think about how it was cultivated. I like to listen to music the same way." -Federico Mompou
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-23-2014 13:43
From: Jeff Farris
Subject: Softening hammers
This message has been cross posted to the following Discussions: Pianotech and CAUT .
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Hello fellow techs,
Has anyone had success with softening Renner Blue hammers that have been over lacquered in the past? This is for a new client of mine with a 1930's M&H model A. It was rebuilt about two years ago with new hammers, shanks & flanges, new soundboard (!), restrung with new pinblock, etc.
It is not excessively bright, but needs to be voiced down. On my first visit, the client described the feeling of being "hit in the face" with the volume. I tried some needling, but found that someone else had attempted the same with little results. I was considering trying a little bit of acetone to "redistribute" the lacquer. I'll be doing a light reconditioning and regulation on it this weekend.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
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Jeff Farris
Austin TX
512-636-1914
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