[
Date Prev][
Date Next] [
Thread Prev][
Thread Next]
[
Date Index][
Thread Index][
Author Index]
Re: Tack Piano
Stick thumbtacks in your piano's hammers and you'll be honky-tonking your
way to a
completely ruined set of hammers when you decide to take them out. Piano
hammers are
made of tightly compressed layered felt that's bent around a wood molding,
so at the strike
point the layers are very tightly .packed. Anything that breaks through
the felt will change the
tone the hammers achieve. Voicing is done by careful insertion of fine
needles around and on
the strike point, usually not very deep. A tack will instantly destroy the
hammer, and
replacement is not cheap. Only recommended for pianos with hammers deemed
dead
already from wear and age.
There are kits available for upright pianos that consist of a rod with 88
cloth strips hanging
from it. The strips have metal tabs in them and can be lowered between the
hammers and the
strings. The hammer hits the cloth, the metal hits the string, and the
effect is essentially the
same as the thumbtack method.
Jon Williams