out of tune Wurlitzer

[Susan Kline]

Willem --

While it sounds like you have all bases covered, something obviously
happened three years ago. It keeps losing pitch, without cycling higher
again in the off season? There has to be something structural, whether or
not it is visible. Lets hope it isn't a hidden hairline crack in the plate.

"Nature favors the hidden flaw."

Grasping at straws, have you tried tilting the piano and seeing if the
bottom board is well attached? It would also give you a chance to check the
structural integrity of the bottom end of the backposts, while the bottom
board is off.

Good luck.

Susan

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At 07:51 PM 12/16/97 EST, Wim Blees wrote:
>I have a problem that I hope some of you can help me with.
>
>The piano is a 30 year old Wurlitzer console.  It sits on an inside wall, away
>from heat vents and outside doors, no fire place in the room, away from the
>kitchen, the washing machine is in the basement on the other side of the
>house. It gets played about 3 hours a week by "a little old lady", no banging.
>
>I have been tuning it twice a year for almost 20 years. For the last 3 years,
>however, whenever I tuned it, it was very badly out of tune. I tuned it again
>today, and the middle of the piano was almost 50 cents flat. What is so wierd
>is that there are five notes with double wound strings on the treble bridge.
>These notes were about 25 cetns flat. But the first note with plain strings
>was about 50 cents flat. The rest of the trebel was comparably flat, but it
>was better higher up. Even the top octave was flat. On the other hand, the
>first octave was on pitch, but got flat closer to the trebel break, with the
>last bass string only 10 cents flat. 
>
>The soundboard an bridges and all seem tight, no cracks or seperations. This
>has a soundbaord with the grain running from left to right. I though about a
>cracked plate, but other signs of one are not there, namely action problems,
>or damper problems. I checked for the pin block seperation, and although there
>is a veneer cover on top of the piano, I cannot see any signs of seperation.
>The back posts are all tight, with no seperation any where. 
>
>Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
>
>Happy Holidays
>
>Willem Blees RPT
>St. Louis. 
>
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Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com

"I'm glad that there are at least some things somewhere that I don't have to
do today."
			-- Ashleigh Brilliant