Hello Birdcage experts! In a fit of insanity, I agreed to tune a birdcage for a regular customer. He also has a nice 1920's Bechstein grand; that was the bait to get me to tune the beastie. It's a W. Gutzweit, #6276 made in Berlin, 85-note affair. It pulled right up to A440, but one question I have is: HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET THE &%#$@ ACTION OUT? I consider myself competent in technical abilities; or at least did until I met this monster and tried to tighten the whippen screws. I removed the damper rail so that I could tune it...no problem with that. The rest of the action has the wooden brackets (one on each end). These are secured on the top by a flip latch and by a screw under the keybed. I removed the screw, and the brackets loosened only slightly. There seems to be a dowel or pin still holding it tight. I tried lifting, pushing forward, pushing back, etc., to no avail. Does anyone (Barrie, Andre or perhaps a few smart, helpful Germans that will stop laughing long enough to help?!) know anything about these creatures? The other "problem" I found is that there are NO front rail felt punchings. Is this a normal condition for old, German pianos??!! Curiously, there is no knocking sound while it's being played. Go figure. There are really thin, almost paper-thin balance rail felts, though. So stop giggling out there and send me some help. I promise that I will never again agree to tune a birdcage, no matter how much they pay me! Stay tuned & best wishes, Mike Hoffman, RPT Marquette, MI
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