Abel on Steinway B 211

My most sincere wishes, Maestro, for a speedy recovery. First of all.

As for the rest, I naturally agree with you.

Unfortunately, you see, the problem is that, besides the fact that hammers had been installed on my instrument that were, as you say, unsuitable (and I hope to demonstrate once and for all that I do not want to get into the merits of whether they were good or bad... but I also hope it is clear that quite a lot of money and time have been wasted between one "experiment" and another...), I myself had then "buried my head in the sand" by choosing one specific brand over another when I decided to resolve it on my own. This happened because I was told in no uncertain terms that "but you can't be joking...? hammers cannot be presented like this... but forget about it and just use this brand and don't think about it anymore...". Now that was defamation...

My piano did not sound properly again until I stopped following that advice.

That is truly all... then, of course, I may have let myself get overcome by discouragement a few times, but I never had any reason or intention to defame or slander anyone. I am not in the market and I have no benefit in doing so.

At most, I just make my own blood bitter for nothing...

A warm greeting, Maestro, and stay well.

Have a good weekend.

pianoexpert wrote:

Thanks giovannig, anyway everything is fine: operated on yesterday morning. It will take me a few days of patience and a cocktail of eye drops!!

ehm yes, but then you recover well! Maybe the PC isn't the best

Thanks for the wishes. Anyway, if you were to reconsider correcting this serious error, there are many skilled technicians in your area who can assist you and perhaps you can manage to restore the "status quo ante",,,,,, Bye

pianoexpert wrote:

Thanks for the wishes. Anyway, if you were to reconsider correcting this serious error, there are many skilled technicians in your area who can assist you and perhaps you can manage to restore the "status quo ante",,,,,, Bye

Of course Maestro, fortunately things have settled down and, by now, we do everything in-house like pasta...

A big hello and get well soon.

Ah ah ah ah ok very well!!!

pianoexpert wrote:

Ah ah ah ah ok very well!!!

I am glad, thank you Maestro. Sometimes misfortunes can even be to our advantage.

It is certainly not easy, nor convenient, but at that point the moments of drama are then eclipsed by the wisdom and abilities acquired.

"He who is right and is able to suffer, in the end, wins." Mahatma Gandhi

Hello everyone and first of all, a wish for a speedy recovery to Pianoexpert and a Happy Easter to all.

I am returning from Rome and I am on the train.

I would like to thank Simon for the response, but I was curious and interested in clarifying the problems that had been raised in my topic, which was then banned and which seemed to reappear in this one.

Like Giiovannig, I do not fully agree with your thinking, but I understand and accept it because most likely, if I were the site administrator, I would behave in the same way.

I have no intention of causing harm to anyone, and even less to a site that I find interesting and highly informative regarding its content and respectful of the thoughts and opinions of others.

I wanted to clarify that I "met" you all in the post I had recently started and that I am not part of any conspiracy network.

I signed up to contribute to the site and to receive useful information for the restoration and tuning of my piano, in exchange for active participation by posting photos, problems, and solutions. Unfortunately, I stumbled upon old unresolved disappointments and am being involved as an activist and conspirator.

I hope to have clarified and dissipated any doubts regarding this matter.

In fact, I hope that my interventions have contributed to resolving and clarifying the old disappointments, allowing us to resume peacefully talking about music, its aspects, and obviously our beloved pianos.

One last question for the administrator regarding my topic on tuning:

in order to move forward with my restoration/tuning project, do I need to open a new topic?

A cordial and friendly greeting to all.

Definitely the second one... It was the opportunity, I hope, to clarify the disappointments once and for all.

Feel free to open a new topic for your problem.

We are waiting for your new mouse. See you soon Paolo.

P,S, I am feeling better, but it still takes a few more days of convalescence. Happy Easter to everyone. Paolo

I am responding after some time, sharing my vision as a pianist and not as a technician. I have had various hammers under my hands that were treated differently. I assure you that the quality does not change, but, as Paolo says, the underlying philosophy does. I own a piano with Renner hammers and it has a wonderful sound. I will tell you about two replacement experiences with Abel from which I understood well, at my own expense, how important COMPETENT voicing is. On my old Yamaha (grand piano), Abel was installed and it sounded at 50% (quite satisfied to be honest, but not at 100%). It was voiced and the percentage dropped. The sensation was truly like having an upright under my hands. But I felt it wasn't its true sound! Then, for various reasons, I replaced the piano. Second example: Kawai upright. By my choice, I had it refurbished by Abel. I asked the technician for more compression or perhaps the hardener. He preferred a more "cautious" approach, having a felt installed with the same compression desired by the manufacturer. According to him, the voicing then depended on me; theoretically, he could even not do it, or do it only slightly. He brought the instrument to my house, removing only the lanosity (he asked for a tiny amount of extra felt) and voiced only the discontinuities in the workshop. The result was beautiful, but still at 50%. "Wait" - the technician told me - "Now we need to understand what you want". I was looking for power, clarity, without sacrificing the sweetness that those hammers "emanated". He disassembled the action and applied the hardener. Then he began voicing with the appropriate tool; first he removed the harsh component of the sound and then, with me, he shaped every single note. Finally, it sounded at 100% and that piano had never sounded like that in my life. It is also true that the sound improves over time, but that must not be an excuse to postpone certain adjustments.

I forgot: with all the limitations of an upright, it has now even doubled its power. So it is not true that Abel doesn't play; one must know how to make it play!!! My intention is not to compare hammers, but rather to emphasize how they are different yet all wonderful. Even a raw Renner hammer does not play. Steinway asks, if I am not mistaken, 2500€ for the same Renner hammer prepared by them. To the technician, the same "raw" hammer costs much less.

Forget 2500€. A pre-voiced Steinway hammer mill costs more than 5000 Euro!!!! And then it has to be installed and finished. ....But there is, precisely, work involved behind it.

As I already mentioned in one of my tutorials, the hammer must have its own behavior to produce a beautiful sound. First of all, the right compression at the source. Then a proper "recipe" of impregnating agent. Then competent voicing that restores the expanded zones and leaves the more compressed ones enhanced by the impregnating agent. Result: an enhancement of the forte up to obtaining a good pianissimo, with a good range of "half-tones". Over time, the hammer mill shows wear and the voicing needs to be reviewed... but without altering the original one. That's all.... or rather... it is not a little. Finally, there is what the pianist expects and what the instrument "can" give.

I am joining this discussion even though I see it dates back more than a year ago to share my experience. I have two Steinway A and B pianos that, unfortunately having fallen into the hands of an unqualified (not to say incompetent) and dishonest technician, had become unplayable. I won't recount the atrocities committed on these instruments (including a replacement of the original action with a second-hand one sold as a great opportunity) because it would be tedious and would demonstrate a lack of attention and competence on my part; as many pianists, we are more concerned with solving our technical-interpretative problems than with the well-being and knowledge of our instrument. Rather, I want to tell you about the miracle performed in these last few months by Paolo, our PianoExpert, whom I contacted after discovering this forum. On both Steinways, he installed an Abel action, respecting the characteristics of those instruments belonging to different eras. He carried out a work of restoration, regulation, and voicing, respecting the weights and measures of each instrument and bringing them back to life. When playing them, I rediscover long-forgotten sensations typical of those instruments so different from one another. The keyboard responds, the sound quality is excellent, and I can achieve a vast range of dynamics from ppp without using the soft pedal up to fff. Referring back to the previous discussion, I can say that, as far as I am concerned, the Abel action on Steinway has yielded excellent results. We will see the long-term results now. For the moment, I can only thank Paolo for the excellent work performed and for saving my pianos.

Thank you truly for the appreciation. Naturally, hammers of any type and brand must be maintained over time. After a basic voicing, the hammers must be monitored over time with small corrections, strictly after tuning. As mentioned in many posts, hammer voicing has to contend with the acoustics of the listening environment, the position of the instrument, and the expectations the pianist has regarding the sound. Regulation also affects the sound and, above all, the approach the pianist has toward their instrument. As my friend Steinway executive Stefan Vertes used to say, the pianist must rely on the instrument; they must not challenge it. When the pianist feels this sense of security in that reliance, then one can say our goal has been achieved.

Thank you again.

Abel knows pianos very well and knows well what the pianist wants. "Not original" does not mean "not suitable" nor even "better," but "appropriate" and that it meets the peculiarities of the instrument and the pianist. Paolo (to whom I also turned for my Pleyel) is very good at listening to the piano and the pianist and finding the most suitable solution (and sometimes against his own interests!!!). Abel does not do as Steinway does, he doesn't do worse and he doesn't do better, he simply follows his own philosophy well appreciated by Europeans, accompanied by first-rate quality! The choice of one hammer action rather than another is delegated to the technician who also takes responsibility for it, but always agreed upon with the client; just as a doctor would with his patient. Simu67, I have heard of your instruments by reputation 😁, but I am very curious to be able to hear them.

Paolo also has the ability to transform a good instrument into an excellent one, as he did with my Pleyel 😉

I am hungry for his teachings and I have now filled the house with tools 🤣🤣🤣