Transitional Tammer Tips - 8 different shores?

[nirsound]

In a perfect world, the Fender Rhodes piano would have 73 (or eighty eight ) different hammer tips harnesses, but in reality, the instrument that was made between 1970-1984 had 5 different levels of hammer tips harnesses, making the transition between shores, sometimes, bit noticeable. Of course we can compensate for that with voicing in the transition points but I was wondering is anyone aware of a source for additional levels of hardness to the hammer tips beyond the original configuration? Lets say 1-2 extra harnesses in the mid section:


   *  00 - 23 = 30 shore (soft)
    * 24 - 33 = 50 shore (medium soft)
**   ADDITIONAL HARDNESS  HERE (less important)
    * 34 - 43 = 70 shore (medium hard)
**   ADDITIONAL HARDNESS HERE (more important)
    * 44 - 57 = 90 shore (hard)
    * 58 - 81 = Maple with shrink (very hard)

[Rob A]

http://www.acmerubber.com/neosheet.htm

Added: McMaster-Carr catalog, page 3480.

...among what has to be many other sources. What I can't answer is how to fabricate hammer tips out of the sheet stock.

If you could cut it with a router bit, you could profile one edge of the sheet, then rip the profiled edge off, so you have a strip a few feet long with the right profile. Then chop it up lengthwise into hammer tips, maybe with a good old razorblade and a jig. I just dunno if you can route the stuff. Never worked with it.

[Rob A]

Trying to think laterally here.... if you could mold them out of RTV, you could theoretically get a more or less continuous durometer range by adding some amendment to the silicone. I just don't know how long they'd hold up.

[GetWithTheTines]

Yeah, you would think that since it comes in shore level increments of 10, it would be easy to make tips with a hardness of 80. I wonder why no one has done this yet, especially since it seems to be in such demand. Perhaps there's a good reason. Maybe Chris from Vintage Vibe will respond and let us know why this hasn't been done.

[Groove4Hire]

I know they introduced a set of blue tips to be used between the yellow and white tips on the Mark 7 to make the transition here more even. I haven't tried these tip on an old piano yet...