out of tune Wurlitzer

[Roger Jolly]

At 07:51 PM 12/16/97 EST, you 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.

Greetings William,
                  Many of these units had poplar liners for the board, the
veneer cap is about 1/8" thick there fore it may not show the seperation of
the block from the back support.
 First check the board to the liner glue joint with a thin artist spatula,
remember the vertical direction. Also check the spacer blocks to the back
post, you can toe these in by drilling a 3/4" dowel and epoxying the dowel
diagonally through the spacer into the back post. Use a long bar clamp to
tighten if loose.
  The other post have covered perimeter bolts and joint, however check the
plate nose bolts that go into the backpost.
  Since you have been looking after the piano for a number of years, and
are just starting to see these problems. Liner, pinblock, plate and back
support system is most likely the cause of the problem. 
  The piano will have to be up ended to check every thing, if nothing is
found in the structure, sit down with the customer and explain that the pin
block cap has to come off and that there is a probability of damage to the
cap.
  The reason for mentioning poplar liners, the material is rather prone to
shrinkage compared to the maple or oak liners.
Regards Roger 
Roger Jolly
University of Saskatchewan
Dept. of Music.