What is the difference between the various types of Neoprene Hammers?

[Oliver Sheen]

I have a feeling I am going to regret putting felt hammers on my '69 suitcase as there seems to be a heck of a lot of hammer hardening to do and ultimately I am trying to get the sound of rubber...

There seems to be a few different types e.g. black square, black angled, coloured angled, coloured square...

Can anyone cast any light on how these all differ in practice?

Thanks

[pianotuner steveo]

I don't remember the exact details on the colors, but the different colors do indicate different hardnesses. The angled would be for tenor and treble,(or maybe just the treble)  The square would be for bass and low tenor (If I remember correctly) There is less space in the upper end for the tip to fit before it would hit the harp, so those are angled.

[Ben Bove]

Vintage Vibe does sell the felt cube tips, which I believe is the correct era of your piano (not the full teardrop felt hammers like an acoustic piano).  If you're looking for the more standard neoprene tip sound, I would order either the black or colored square tips to stay consistent with your vintage of piano. 

In your vintage of piano, you set the escapement by raising or lowering the harp with shims on the side, while the square hammer tips are all at a consistent height.  Notice the equal height of all the tips on the square version:



The angled tips were used on metal action frame pianos from Sept. 1975 and on, and the tips have varying heights.  The shims for the harp supports are the same dimension, and don't change.  This was an attempt by the factory to auto-set the escapement by parts, rather than by assembler skill level.



So, you'll want to order the square version.  I believe the coloring is for ease of installation to identify them.  If you got angled tips, you'd need to drop your harp height in the bass section all the way down to wood or farther.

[Chris Carroll]

Excellent post Ben!!

https://www.vintagevibe.com/blogs/news/44637955-the-definitive-guide-to-vintage-vibe-hammer-tips

If you are unsure and would like to discuss further feel free to call up and ask for Chris.

You can also order samples and decide what works best then make up your own tip configuration based on your desired needs..

Graduated tips have the most attack
Angled tips and black square are a mid level attack
Colored tips have a slightly softer attack
Felt tips can be customized from very soft to bright attack

[Ben Bove]

There you have it!  Funny enough, I pulled google images I could find, and these were the best - right from this blog post.  Really thorough write up, thanks Chris

[Rhodestech Robocop]

If you compare hardness of neoprene tips between 1973-1975 you will find considerable hardness differences between the years. This isnt a very big deal. The 5 five grades are a compromise. This compromise can be improved by a tech to expand the variation to for instance 7 grades , by combining different tips. The split points would be largely determined by the amount of bell you want and the the kind of tip the tine wants to produce enough volume.

I personally round of the square 1972-1975 hammertips just a little bit to make the contact surface just a bit smaller and have a more precise striking point (less broad), although still broader than the 1976-1982 tips. 1975 can be pretty soft over the entire range , 1974 doesnt have the originally red color coded ones at all (extra yellow ones instead , so 4 grades) , which is a clear mistake. Soundwise I have no problem at all with the 1976-1982 tip with the graded height , compared to the more equal height of the earlier years.


I think the best Herbie Hancock sounds were done with real pianostyle felt hammerheads (tracks like "Nobu" / 4th track of "Mister Hands" / 1st track "Direct Step") but I never got into that , since I judge this as being very difficult , involving needling and voicing beyond my capacities. (And the hammerheads probably not suitable for the bottom 2 octaves of a 73keys , simply because they are too hard for the thinner modern tine , too much bell.) I also think that the thinner modern tines themselves would deteriorate in soundquality much faster due to the harder impact . (I never worked with the thicker Raymacs.)
That also explains the uniqueness of the aforementioned sublime rhodes-tracks which were never really equaled by anyone.