Cross section of glovers needle is triangular, textile needle is round. The inclusive angle of the compass point and the textile needles I use is 13 degrees. Glovers needle is much less.
Original Message:
Sent: 10-31-2023 08:46
From: Parker Leigh
Subject: Compass point needling
How do textile needles compare to glovers needles?
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Parker Leigh RPT
Winchester VA
(540) 722-3865
Original Message:
Sent: 10-30-2023 23:19
From: David Stanwood
Subject: Compass point needling
Sure Tremaine, Happy to share a youtube link of John Foy in North Carolina working over a Steinway D concert hall piano. The hammers don't have significant grooving wear. They have ample lacquer which produces a big sound in the hall. Not so full and beautiful in the lighter dynamics. He's using the compass point-aka spike, and peen method. A single compass point mounted in a handle is worked over the strike area. The ideal level of pressure was determined by test samples. He also feels the hard spots with the single needle. Then he works over the felt with the ball peen hammer. Stephan Paulello described to me once that for him the immediate change from peening was similar to the improvement one realizes over time from playing in a new set of hammers. The overall effect pianistically was that the overall dynamic range of the piano was noticeably expanded by the widening of the Pianissimo ranges. It opened up latent possibilities of warmth and subtlety. Forte tones were strong and cleaner. Pianists who regularly play on the piano were very pleased with the result and starting right away to explore and exploit the added tonal dimensions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-BazjScJtk
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David Stanwood
stanwoodpiano.com
stanwood@tiac.net
508-693-1583
Original Message:
Sent: 10-30-2023 20:50
From: Tremaine Parsons
Subject: Compass point needling
David, Thank you so much for the video. I was having a hard time imagining a compass point because this old brain was stuck on navigation. Any chance you could do a short video of your ball peen hammer method???? I'd really like to see that. Do you hold the hammer as if you are filing one hammer?
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Tremaine Parsons RPT
Georgetown CA
(530) 333-9299
Original Message:
Sent: 10-28-2023 08:40
From: David Stanwood
Subject: Compass point needling
Here's an video example of pretuning voicing I often do. Gives a noticible improvement to the finish of the tone and makes for easier unison tuning.
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David Stanwood
stanwoodpiano.com
stanwood@tiac.net
508-693-1583
Original Message:
Sent: 10-28-2023 07:54
From: David Stanwood
Subject: Compass point needling
I hear you David. I find that in many cases nothing else works as well. The compass needle is certainly destructive to the hard the outer surface while producing a gradient effect into the deeper layers. Maybe deconstructive is a better word. Easy to control the effect by the amount of force used when inserting the needle. I'd call it a more aggressive sugar coating method with a much more permanent effect. It is mainly a surface effect so if you overdo, a light filing brings up the tone again (in hammers without deep string grooves). I most often use my compass points on pianos with heavily grooved older hammers using an angled stab as for Angel Shot method. Just takes a few minutes and the customers really notice and appreciate how it increases pianissimo range without killing the forte tone and improves the general finish of the tone. My original source from draftingsteals.com went out of business. I'm using textile needles now which are even sharper than the compass points. I've got an ample supply. If anyone wants to try them out, please feel free to contact me personally.
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David Stanwood
stanwoodpiano.com
stanwood@tiac.net
West Tisbury MA
(508) 693-1583
Original Message:
Sent: 10-28-2023 02:10
From: David Love
Subject: Compass point needling
Glover's needless are also aggressive (for different reasons-the sharp edges tend to cut the wool fibers ) but so are compass point due to the diameter of the compass point. I stand by my position that using them is when nothing else will work.
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David Love RPT
www.davidlovepianos.com
davidlovepianos@comcast.net
415 407 8320
Original Message:
Sent: 10-27-2023 15:12
From: Larry Messerly
Subject: Compass point needling
No David, glover's needles are aggressive
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Larry Messerly, RPT
Bringing Harmony to Homes
www.lacrossepianotuning.com
ljmesserly@gmail.com
928-899-7292
Original Message:
Sent: 10-27-2023 09:53
From: David Love
Subject: Compass point needling
No. Compass point needling is a very aggressive approach to be used only in the case of over lacquered or hopeless hammers. It's very destructive to the hammer and should be used only as a last last resort.
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David Love RPT
www.davidlovepianos.com
davidlovepianos@comcast.net
415 407 8320
Original Message:
Sent: 10-26-2023 20:12
From: Larry Messerly
Subject: Compass point needling
Any thoughts on compass point needling before hammer reshaping?
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Larry Messerly, RPT
Bringing Harmony to Homes
www.lacrossepianotuning.com
ljmesserly@gmail.com
928-899-7292
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