Voicing

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  • 1.  Lacquer in Tone Building and Sustain

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-12-2023 16:56
    How does lacquer applied to hammers help or hurt tone building and sustain?

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    Parker Leigh
    Winchester VA
    (540) 722-3865
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  • 2.  RE: Lacquer in Tone Building and Sustain

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-12-2023 20:36
    It depends where you put it, how much, the strength of the solution, what kind of hammers (hard pressed, hot pressed, cold pressed, etc.) and what the hammer maker recommends for their products.  If you put too much, the felt fibers will become almost homogeneous, and needling them won't work very well.  They'll be locked solid.  You could soak them and try to get it out, but it's iffy and difficult.  Sometimes you need to put it low on the shoulders to provide support for the rest of the felt, sometimes just a little on the crown.  Many times you can avoid using lacquer at all, just by needling or squeezing the felt in certain areas.  I have often found that if I use it on just a few hammers, it changes the tone a lot, and even if I needle it down, it comes back.  It's best if you can find someone experienced in voicing and using lacquer to show you how to do it.  Take as many voicing classes as possible at conventions and chapter meetings.  I'm sure the experts on here will chime in and give their advice.  Good luck.

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    Paul McCloud, RPT
    Accutone Piano Service
    www.AccutonePianoService.com
    pavadasa@gmail.com
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  • 3.  RE: Lacquer in Tone Building and Sustain

    Posted 01-12-2023 22:09
    First lacquer imo is a poor choice for voicing hammers because it also creates "noise" while simultaneously trying to achieving your aims. There are two types of hammers cold pressed and hot pressed. Each with a different set of requirements. Cold pressed the goal is to build fortissimo and create a wide dynamic range. Hot pressed hammers the goal is to build sustain.  Cold pressed hammers work is mostly at the peak of the core, hot pressed hammers most work is the shoulders.  I do not use any needles at all on either. Another key element is to choose the correct hammer that fits the piano at the outset. The result of this is less manipulation.
    I have many voicing videos on my youtube channel that should help. Here is a good one that explains where to apply and for what reason. 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69VakMtdR-Q&list=PL4km3jbQ3Am4ptaPGf82Qtfgn8V1bhRTJ&index=16

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    Chernobieff Piano Restorations
    "Where Tone is Key, and Mammoths are not extinct."
    865-986-7720 (text only please)
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  • 4.  RE: Lacquer in Tone Building and Sustain

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-12-2023 23:02

    Parker, about the only scenario in which I would actually prefer to use a light to medium mix of water white lacquer is when dealing with certain Steinway grands. A real-life example; when I was at a large University fairly recently there were 6 Steinway grands purchased all at the same time. A couple of the model O grands were not bright enough after placing them as carefully as possible for the situations. One in particular was a staff piano accompanist…both of these pianos were new and under warranty. The factory recommended method (which of course matches what is already in the hammers) is the lacquer mixed with acetone. It worked SURPRISINGLY well and the tone still had wonderful sustain and was not too pingy at all! I used about 6:1 for the medium mix and about 10:1 for a light mix. 

    Both the staff pianist and the piano majors using the other one that was too dull were all very pleased after I finished voicing these pianos. I would never WANT to do this with the D in the concert hall…nor did it need anything like this. Probably not even most Model Bs. I agree with the advice given above that most of the time shoulder needling is all that is needed…especially on Ds and Bs and most all other pianos out there other than Steinways. Hope this helps… I much prefer B-72 for most pianos although deep shoulder needling works very well and increases tone quality, power, and brightness. 

    To be clear what I am talking about here is only a few drops at a time right on the crown. I agree that adding hardener to the shoulders and to the sides requires much more knowledge, experience and probably would be more for rebuilders installing new hammers and that sort of thing. 

    If you ever do need to use this;
    -Strong mix is usually about 3 or 4 to 1
    -Medium is usually about 6 to 1
    -Light mix is usually 9 or 10 to 1
    - 12 to 1 is nice to just "pop the brightness" just a bit. 



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    Kevin Fortenberry
    Registered Piano Technician
    Longview, TX 75602
    806-778-3962
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  • 5.  RE: Lacquer in Tone Building and Sustain

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-14-2023 00:10
    I very seldom use lacquer, but my favorite mix is a 1% solution (1 g in 100 ml of acetone or solvent) which is intended to be extremely light.  
    My theory is that a light application allows me a margin of error and I can always reapply.  In practice I seldom need any more than this solution.

    Has anyone else experimented with extra light or thin applications?

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    Blaine Hebert RPT
    Duarte CA
    (626) 795-5170
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  • 6.  RE: Lacquer in Tone Building and Sustain

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-14-2023 01:18
    I think there is nothing wrong with applying lacquer. Sometimes using acetone as the thinner and other times lacquer thinner may be appropriate, depending on how soon the results are needed. But lacquer thinner will allow the solution to penetrate deeper into the hammers because it is slower to evaporate. B-72 has an advantage of penetrating deeper as it dries which can be advantageous and it dries a bit flexible, possibly another advantage over other hardeners. But practically speaking, getting the hardener down deep into the crown is the goal for me.

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  • 7.  RE: Lacquer in Tone Building and Sustain

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 01-15-2023 01:04

    Great post Vince. I completely agree. I almost mentioned using lacquer thinner…but hesitated…thinking my post was getting too long. 

    I do normally use Everclear with the B-72 and it really does work beautifully! Most recently I pretty much had to do a complete re-voicing on a prettt nice Ritmuller grand that was ordered in by a piano dealer. It was way too dull & life-less in the entire bottom half and was very uneven. It took about 3 passes (starting with a medium/light mix and then finishing with a very light mix…marking the worst ones, applying several drops, waiting a few hours in between). Turned out really, really nice! 



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    Kevin Fortenberry
    Registered Piano Technician
    Longview, TX 75602
    806-778-3962
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