At last, the newly re-covered Abel hammers (premium grade ORGANIC FELT!) have arrived for Challow Park’s Bechstein B grand. I am delighted with how they feel (you do get a sense of a felt’s consistency and quality with the finger-squeeze test!) – and am hugely looking forward to doing the initial voicing when they and the action are re-united with the newly re-strung piano, once it is delivered from London to Challow Park.

In fact, these are the first hammer heads I’ve worked on (I’ve worked on thousands of sets) that SMELL GOOD! They smell of wool – rather than the usual musty or vaguely chemical odour.