Hammer Suppliers
By Larry Lobel
Brian Thornton, I'm happy to get a chance to return the favor for all the information you sent about my Baldwin Manualo restoration. I've got 25 years experience trying all different kinds of piano hammers, and have often experienced the same frustration you're having. Recently I've found the following two hammer suppliers to be excellent:
Pacific Piano Supply Company
PO Box 8419, 16153 Leadwell Street
Van Nuys, California 91406
Phone (818) 779-1586
Fax (818) 779-1354
They charge $4 for a catalog. It is a small catalog, they don't stock a lot of items. I've bought about four sets of hammers from them in the past year which have all been very good.
A. Isaac Pianos
308 Betty Ann Drive
Willowdale, Ontario M2R 1B1
CANADA
Phone (416) 229-2096
This man is visually impaired, but if given detailed instructions and measurements he makes a beautiful set of hammers. He claims the felt he uses is the same supplied to Steinway (maybe that's not necessarily a great recommendation!). I've bought three or four sets from him and they have been the best sounding North-American made hammers I've ever used. He only does hammers, and will send a free brochure and price list.
Another possibility is Renner hammers from Germany. I last used them 20 years ago and they were excellent; I can't vouch for their quality at this time:
Louis Renner Stuttgart
Fritz-Reuter Strasse 18
Post Box 423
D-7000 Stuttggart 1
Phone 07 11/65 30 65
These numbers are from almost 20 years ago; so they may have changed. They will charge a hefty fee for their catalog (they wanted $15 in 1979).
Finally you can try Imadegawa hammers from Japan. These are available now from Schaff Piano Supply in Chicago. I haven't tried them myself, but I'm sure they're better than Schaff's own hammers, or APSCOs.
I hope this is helpful.
Larry Lobel |
(Message sent Tue 4 Mar 1997, 17:02:42 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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