5. The serial printer of claim 1, wherein said predetermined amount of attenuation is different for each of said at least two different font styles.
1. In a serial printer comprising a carriage, a print member rotatably mounted to said carriage and including a plurality of character elements of a predetermined font style, drive means coupled to said print member for rotating said print member to a desired rotational position order to place a selected character element at a printing position adjacent a record medium to be printed upon, print hammer means mounted to said carriage and capable when enabled of impacting the character element located at said printing position with a desired level of force, and hammer control apparatus coupled to said print hammer means for enabling said print hammer means when said selected character element has been rotated to said desired rotational position, said hammer control apparatus comprising: means responsive to a first signal representative of said selected character element to be impacted for generating a second signal proportional to a desired level of force with which said selected character element is to be impacted by said print hammer means when said plurality of character elements are defined in any one of at least two different font styles, one of which being said predetermined font style; means coupled to said means for generating a second signal for multiplying said second signal by a constant identifying said predetermined font style to form a third signal representative of the desired level of force with which said selected character element is to be impacted; said means for multiplying including switch means capable of selectively attenuating said second signal by a predetermined amount for each of said at least two different font styles; said switch means including, a manually operable switch having a common contact and at least two selectable contacts, an amplifier having first and second inputs and an output, first impedance means for coupling the first input of said amplifier to said means for generating said second signal and to said common contact, second impedance means for coupling the second input of said amplifier to one of said selectable contacts, and means coupled to the output of said amplifier for generating said third signal; means coupled to said print member for detecting when said selected character element has been rotated to said desired rotational position; and means responsive to such detection for coupling said third signal to said print hammer means thereby enabling said print hammer means to impact said selected character element with said desired level of force.