Wuritzer console

[Andrew & Rebeca Anderson]

M Kinsler,
Seeing it is not worth re-pinning you could try a veterinarian's fine 
needle syringe and thin CA glue on the pins.  That has worked well for me 
on a cheap piano that would spin the hammer back as soon as I let go of 
it.  I've used the other stuff too and it was not effective.  When I say 
"well," that means that it got me out the door with the piano in tune.  The 
jury is still out with respect to long term holding capability.  At least I 
haven't been back yet (expect to shortly) and I haven't heard definitive 
comments here regarding follow-up.
Regarding thumping, does the hammer bubble any? are the dampers regulated 
properly? how do both terminations look? is there any discoloration of the 
strings?
Some times taking the strings off and wrapping them around a coke/beer 
bottle (glass type) will make a world of difference.  I've seen suggestions 
for washing in alcohol or acetone.  Generally this is due to some foreign 
substance (like coke/beer) trickling down the string and then collecting 
dust.
Oh, and I have encountered wound strings that were in tune one octave below 
their neighbors; that aural tuner must have been in a hurry! ;-)

Andrew Anderson,
Las Cruces, NM

At 07:37 PM 2/6/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>A while ago I had a look at a Wurlizer console piano that has suffered 
>through many years in an auditorium.  It is so sadly out of tune that I 
>figured I could do no harm in trying out my tuning hammer on it.  It 
>seemed to me that the tuning pins turned rather easily.  The condition 
>seemed to exist everywhere on the pinblock, so I suspect that the pinblock 
>is not cracked.
>
>I was later told that this particular instrument goes out of tune very 
>quickly and that it had been professionally tuned some months 
>earlier.  But from what I've read on this list, I rather doubt that a 
>professional tuner would not have attended to loose tuning pins in some way.
>
>Nor would s/he have left one note (the first bass note left of the break, 
>two wound strings) to thump the way it does.  It sounds like the strings 
>of that note are touching something, but the hammer lets off normally and 
>the damper lifts okay and I can't see anything stuck down there.
>
>So I have two questions:
>
>1) Would I wreck this instrument for all eternity if I tried some of that 
>piano-tuning-pin elixir on the pinblock?  It's supposed to be great, 
>according to the catalog; your tuning pin troubles will fly away like the 
>bluebird on the wing.
>
>2) What the heck might be blocking that pair of bass strings on this piano?
>I've had the various panels off and have stuck my head inside the 
>instrument along with a flashlight, and there don't seem to be any dropped 
>crayons or pizza boxes therein.
>
>M Kinsler
>who knows more than enough to be dangerous to both piano and mankind
>
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