Oops, I sent off my answer before noticing that you already had two winners -- however ............... Seems to me that you didn't have a weak rep spring; you had a seizing center pin in the rep lever. The fallboard may say "Wurlitzer", but you have identified it as a Samick. They are prone to failing center pin plating. I've taken a couple of photos of a (vintage) Samick wippen lying on a table with the jack sticking its tongue out through the totally seized rep lever. "This piano has a history of tight jacks" corroborates. Usually, of course, the hammers fail first. They start by working pretty well when cold, but seize up as the friction of playing warms them. At first they seem just a little slow to return, and then they stop repeating well, and finally, they hang in air. If one rep lever is seizing, can a few more be far behind? And you may find that a few dampers start mysteriously hanging up. No point in over-easing the damper guide rail bushing at that point, if it's a seized underlever flange. If this seems like a logical scenario, take out the most offending part, remove the center pin, and examine it under magnification. If the nickel plating is failing, you'll see it is scored through to the brass on the contact areas. If this is the case, your customer is right. It's definitely a warranty issue, and like a bad penny, it comes back over and over and over again. Oh, have FUN!!!! Susan At 08:04 AM 6/18/2002 -0400, you wrote: >Mike and/or Jane Spalding were the first to correctly identify weak rep >springs as the culprit..but I mustalso award a prize to Richard Brekne for >'fully' examining the situation...lemme 'splain: > >Yes, the rep springs in question were not working properly, and adding >tension to the springs made the problem go away...but...the particular note >in question also had a somewhat low rep lever, causing the jack to catch on >the knuckle instead of releasing back to its correct position. > >So..I feel obligated to cut the coveted used felt mute wedge in 2.. > >Richard, to answer your first question about someone dinking with the >action....not the case..here's the scenario: > >- Wurlitzers of this vintage have a history of tight jack flanges(right >Roger?) > > - The customer does not feel obligated to pay for these types of repairs >since he feels it is a warranty issue > > - the dealership who sold the piano also feels the issue is warranty, but >since Baldwin is not honoring warranty claims, the dealership will pay for a >'big repair', but to nickle and dime this dealership for this particular >problem is not a good thing, since they still feed me work > > - I feel this is something _I_ should have caught while tuning this piano, >so yesterday's charges were $0.00..that makes the owner happy, the >dealership happy, and I'm happy that I am finally giving away the felt mute >strip! > >-Phil Bondi (Fl.) >tito@philbondi.com
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC