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.
------------------------------
Kevin Fortenberry
Registered Piano Technician
Longview, TX 75602
806-778-3962
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 01-12-2023 16:56
From: Parker Leigh
Subject: Lacquer in Tone Building and Sustain
How does lacquer applied to hammers help or hurt tone building and sustain?
------------------------------
Parker Leigh
Winchester VA
(540) 722-3865
------------------------------