Last year I purchased a Weber Model 12 Pedal Electric Duo Art Grand;
I understand it was once owned by the Medcrafts who produced Duo-Art
recuts.   The piano is in excellent condition but needs a full
pneumatic rebuild which I hope to start on very soon.

This model of Weber has the whole pneumatic stack and roll box and
motor behind the fall board.  That is to say that it lifts out easily
and there is no stack underneath the piano.  I personally think it
looks much more graceful than some player grands because of this.

The piano is very soft and mellow which is not normally the case with
Weber instruments.  I therefore inspected the hammers and they seem to
have been either recovered or replaced.  It is clear to me looking at
the workmanship that this is not a very professional job.  I would
like to replace the  hammers with a good quality hammer and then tone
it accordingly, therefore hoping to lift the quality of the tone.
I personally am not a advocate of recovering hammers as there is no
way that they can produce the density of felt that is required when
they are covering the precut hammerheads.

Just to say I have checked the stringing and the bridges and the
general downbearing and that seems okay.  I trained as a piano builder
some years ago, but can anyone out there give me some guidance on what
weight and size hammers I should use, as what is on the piano at the
moment is certainly untrustworthy.  Any Model 12 owners out there with
an untouched virgin piano action?

One other interesting thing is the piano action.  It has a lever up
front for the pneumatics to work on and the check is actually attached
to the grand lever!  I have read that regulation can be fun as it all
relies on using key weights and adjusting the springs so that there is
an even touch from bass to treble.

Jonathan Holmes
Penzance, Cornwall, UK