The piano, a 90s Schimmel 208, had a NON-original action upon purchase (Abel, which I still keep) whose sound and touch did not satisfy me, regardless of tuning and regulation. So, I ordered the action from the Schimmel factory via Renner, which has different characteristics and shapes. Beautiful sound, balanced dynamics, but... too much attack.
Out of curiosity, I have also played brand new Schimmel 208s from the factory, and the touch is the same; there isn't much to be done.
With the action provided by Schimmel, various attempts have been made over the years to reduce the attack, tuning, weighting, adding springs, but the sound, although powerful and beautiful, according to my very personal taste, is missing something.
At this point, what is advisable to do? On the advice of the representative, I have turned my attention to another Renner action, size 5 (instead of 6), and with a hammer thickness of 10.5 (instead of 11). Could this be the right solution for my needs?
You are talking about two prestigious houses, both Abel and Renner. A hammer rail is not just mounted. I don't know if you have evaluated the weights, the regulation, the correct inertia, and the regulation/tuning. It must be evaluated closely. You cannot choose from a distance.
However, I believe that after installation, respecting the escapement point, one must proceed with the regulation of the weights (lowering and return) and the tuning.
One must never throw away the old hammer rail (which it seems to me you have never seen!!!!), especially to respect the type, the shapes of the hammer and the tails, and the escapement point. The original drilling is also important, and if the original does not exist, one must reconstruct the geometry of the action.
You are talking about two prestigious houses, both Abel and Renner. A hammer rail is not just mounted and that's it. I don't know if you have evaluated the weights, the balancing, the correct inertia, and the regulation. It must be evaluated closely. You cannot choose from a distance.
However, I believe that, after installation, while respecting the escapement point, one must proceed with the readjustment of the weights (lowering and return) and the regulation.
One should never throw away the old hammer rail (which it seems to me you have never seen!!!!), especially to respect the type, the shapes of the hammer and the tails, and the escapement point. The original drilling is also important, and if the original does not exist, one must reconstruct the geometry of the action.
Thank you for the answer; in the end, complicit with the young age at which I had bought the instrument, I decided to stop here with the attempts and sell it, because I realized that I do not like this model and I would probably never reach full satisfaction... Also because, as you say, I have never seen the original hammers...
I am joining this discussion because I believe I have a similar question.
I have owned a mid-80s Schimmel 112 for about a month and a half.
Unfortunately, only now am I realizing that the sound of the Schimmel, which is too muddy and lacks brilliance, does not fully reflect my tastes. Especially the bass notes; they give me an impression of excessive fullness and long sustain, and even with a second voicing, I haven't been able to satisfy my preferences.
The piano features a mechanism with a Rennen hammer rail that is not very worn. In your opinion, by treating the hammers with a hardener to stiffen the felts, can a brighter, sharper, and more open sound be achieved?
Second option (I know you won't like this idea, but) could one opt for a change of the hammer rail, installing a Japanese one?
Impregnating a hammer rail and then voicing it, keep in mind that this is something for experts and also, before intervening with impregnants, many things must be evaluated, not least the correct regulation.
Replacing a hammer rail. Here too, a good technician must evaluate which compression to choose and communicate it to those who build the hammer rail. An oriental hammer rail, in my experience, is not better than our West German one.
You must rely on a good technician.
P.S. Voicing is strictly linked to the choice of hammer rail compression and to one's own taste, but it is wrong to think that voicing or impregnation can change the "nature" of the hammer rail. Furthermore, everything also has to contend with the acoustics of the listening environment.
P.P.S. Careful, if over time the hammer rail has been voiced incorrectly, it might have become too low in pitch... especially if it has been poked without expertise on the regulating wedge. Voicing sometimes creates irreversible results!!!!!
