A regular meeting of Nassau PTG was held on November 14, 2000. Seven members and one guest attended.

The October minutes were amended to state that NYSCON would reimburse us for half of our losses. The dinner committee reported that our holiday party will be at La Pace Restaurant in Glen Cove on December 5. The cost is $29 each. Please send checks to Paul Keogler our treasurer. Mike Slavin showed us pictures of an art-case Steinway that he had tuned. The business meeting ended at 8:30.

Our technical was by Ernie Juhn. His topic was voicing. Ernie defined voicing as a complete process consisting of hammer shaping, string alignment and tuning. If these prerequisites are done, then we can decide if the hammers should be needled. Ernie voices a section at a time and asks the client to tell if he hears any improvement.

He also described how a hammer is made. Ernie does not notice any difference between hot and cold pressed hammers. We were told about the methods for quick softening and hardening of the hammers before any needling is done.We can use acetone and lacquer to restore tone to dead hammers. Using a hair dryer will make it work faster.

Ernie mentioned that too much needling is harmful to the hammer. He needles in a radial pattern, 90 degrees to the surface of the hammer. We thank Ernie for his excellent and interesting presentation.

Marty Dinerstein, Secretary