Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum A Visit to the Wizard's Workshop (trip report)

Passing through Seattle, I managed to swing by Ed McMorrow's shop, Lighthammer Piano. It's a delightful shop of piano magic, entrancing any piano fan who enters. Ed spends a lot of time devising new ways to make the piano sound better. When he hears about a new technique or material, he tries to think about how he can use it to make a piano sound better. The world needs more people like that.

There were a lot of things I was able to see, and more I wasn't. Here are some things I liked, that people here might be interested in hearing about.

0) From the first time I read Ed's description of piano tone, I wanted to hear it. His pianos are regulated smoothly like melted chocolate from the top to the bottom. The bass is rich in the fundamental and almost has a halo of sound around each note. The treble is like sound of a singing voice. The high notes sing like birds. The amount of sustain in the high notes was notable. It's obvious he's put a lot of work into this.

1) There was a thread where Ed discussed his approach to actions. Once again, I was interested in trying his ideas. When it comes to actions, my primary question is, "how well can I use it to control the piano (with respect to dynamics, etc)?" and I had no problem. The feel of the action reminded me most of the Fandrich upright action, which is very smooth and I also liked quite a bit. There must be something in the Seattle air that encourages piano modifications.

(I felt a little frustrated with the action on one of the pianos, because it had a very distinct bump, more than I am used to, but apparently some people like that. De gustubus non es disputatum. I had no such problem on the other pianos.)

3) He has a rebuilt Chickering grand, my first time ever playing one. A beautiful instrument with a smooth action, heavy wood braces (worth a crawl underneath to look at), and a resonant bass. I don't normally mention repeated notes because most grands are fast enough, but this one was notably fast on the repetition. I played Beethoven's Appasionata Sonata, mvmnt 2, and enjoyed it so much.

4) Some of the pianos have carbon fiber shanks. We've had long threads on this topic in the past, and I was able to do a bit of A/B testing. The differences between carbon and wood were subtle....it was difficult for me to feel much of a difference.

5) Ed has created a sort of duplex scale in the high notes, with an extra bit of sounding string between the capo and the tuning pins This is is unusual: other pianos with duplex scales have a bit of extra string by the bridge (and Bluthner has an extra 'silent' string). It give the high notes a little extra warmth.

I should add that in real life, Ed is one of the most personable and friendly people I've met.

I think there are probably many wizards who post on these forums.

Thank you for the report Phantom Five. These are questions for you, but probably more for Ed.



What year and model Chickering is it? I enjoy a few of the older larger models quite a bit.



As it has been explained, Ed is using a "front duplex". How does this front duplex differ from other front duplex systems already in place by manufacturers? Or is the point that this is an addition to an older scale?

Again, thanks for the report!

Rich,

I had a lovely time visiting Ed and his family as well, last summer on vacation, after hiking on the Olypmic Peninsular...we spent a couple days talking each others ears off.

The configuration of the front duplexes in his showroom, are all(or mostly) examples of his "Fully Tempered Duplex Scale" patent application. Some of the details have been discussed in an FTDS thread on the tech forum. I have purchased a number of licenses for a number of recent completed rebuilds, and have installed the technology on these pianos. The configuration of these duplexes with their co-polymer counter-bearing duplex segment termination, ratios of duplex length to speaking length, as well as non-patent strike point ratios, etc, etc, are designed to add clarity and projection to the treble and high treble. The treble presence and sustain is singular and excellent up to 88 on most of the pianos.

I'm sure Ed will chime in, but as another set of ears checking out the ideas and his excellent implementation of the ideas, the concept is worth considering if you are looking for improved treble response in your rebuilds.

As well, the implementaion of light hammer protocols puts to the lie the notion that power and fullness are only accessible with hammer weight. The lighthammer actions, both his and my own, shed a welcome light of relativity on what has become a monolithic conventional wisdom of unnecessarily heavy hammers. With a properly configured light hammer action, there is power to spare, clarity when clarity is desired, unbelievable killer octave sustain, and control of some of the most frustrating aspects of most pianos. For example, complete control of left hand, low 3rd octave trills. These can be controlled as a coloring ornament by ordinary mortals, rather than becoming a tonal juggernaut. Repetition and ornament become intuitive and improvisational.

I very much enjoyed meeting you. It is always nice when I make acquaintance with bright, engaging, talented and younger people who wish to engage in the world in a meaningful way.

Rich,
It is a 1905 Model 119 with many modifications to the belly.

If you access the PW thread titled "Fully Tempered Duplex Scale" you can follow the conversation. And search via Google patent search you can read the patent application with the same title.

The claims do include novel duplexes at the hitching length, but I need to make a piano from scratch to have a full exemplar piano. So as of now all my FTDS scales show the application to the tuning pin end of the string.

Lighthammer tone regulation also offers tremendous benefits to durability and stability of tone and touch. The actions last two to three times as long as the traditional "modern" heavier piano hammer. This is a real value to owners.

I'll be visiting there in a couple of weeks! Sounds like the pianos are something special and I'm excited to play them

I should have taken a picture, it's actually kind of cool to look at. He places a kind of carbon-fiber bridge between the capo and the tuning pins.

You can see some pictures of my Fully Tempered Duplex Scale Sean took posted in the PW technicians forum thread titled; Friday Frolic at LightHammer Piano.

Ed, I especially love how you've got an audition room next to your workshop. That Chickering was still something else and that adorable little 5 footer was really well prepared.