How is this piano set up?

[David Aubke]

On From Left to Right, Bill Evans plays a Rhodes which at times sounds as though it has a peculiar setup. Particularly on The Dolphin, it's especially bright and metallic.

Here's a short mp3 clip that features the sound I'm talking about.

Is that a Dyno-My-Piano sound?

[onthegreenline]

That record, along with "The Bill Evans Album", is a rare example of the transition hammers with square felt tips. I haven't seen one in the wild - closest I've come is Miyaji music here in Tokyo, where one of the techs is working on a restoration and is actually going to try and make his own set of the hammers rather than just swap them out for newer rubber tips. I'll swing by and see how it's coming along next week...

[David Aubke]

Interesting. Thanks.

I don't think I like that tone so much but it does have some unique character.

[Loukas]

Hi David .
The unique sounds comes from the teardrop felts .It is an early Mark I with silver top-kind felts that produce that sound just like the classic piano has.
Also the square tone bars make the bell like sound.
I own a silver top and i am a big Bill Evans fun .

[voltergeist]

There's a bit of misinformation in this thread.  MkI's did not have teardrop hammers.  "Teardrop" describes the shape of the hammer, not the tip material.  That said, the teardrop hammers were felt covered, and early MkI's used felt tips on the early Mk1 style hybrid hammer, so they're similar in that sense.  I don't believe any Mk1's were made with square tone bars - those were specific to the 60's "silvertop/sparkletop" era.  Also note that there is an important distinction between "hammers" and "hammer tips".

This thread has photos of the early Mk1 felt-tipped hammers:

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=7869.0

This thread has photos of sparkletop teardrop hammers:

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=7854.0