Richard, How old are these pianos? Have you checked the key leads. I¹m replacing key leads in an older grand because they have expanded and rub against the adjacent keys. Randy Chastain On 6/30/07 11:26 AM, "Richard Morgan" <rsanbornmorgan at yahoo.com> wrote: > I was called out yesterday to tune two pianos in the same house--both > Wurlitzers, a spinet and a grand. They warned me that a few keys were > sticking on each. However, they didn't tell me how bad they were sticking! > They are currently unplayable, and untunable until the problems are fixed. > * They bought the spinet very recently "from a very good home," and it was > working fine then. It is very clean. > * They've had the grand for 4 years, rescued from a chicken coop, before which > it was a well-maintained church piano. They claim an accomplished pianist > liked it better than his own rebuilt grand. The dampers looked very fresh, > almost new, as if they had been recently replaced (not long before being > rescued). When I pulled the action, the hammers looked like they'd been in a > chicken coop--old, hard, yellowed, and chewed-on. > The actions on both seem to be working well, with minor, occasional > sluggishness (could probably use some center pin lube). I narrowed the > problem on both pianos to the keys--many are binding against neighbors, and/or > on the front rail bushings as well. On the grand, the balance rail bushings > are pretty worn and discolored, and several of the pins visible above the > buttons are corroded; the front rail bushings I examined looked good. > > Now, for the environment: the house is a magnificent 3-story, 100 years old, > with no central heat/air!! It is in east central Texas, where, as you have > heard on the news, we have received virtually our annual allotment of rain in > this past week, and the whole spring/summer so far has been unseasonable wet. > Imagine the humidity! > > I'm sure the humidity has caused most of the problems, especially on the > spinet. How much will the key-sticking and sluggish action problems disappear > as the humidity level drops? Should I wait to do any work, to see how they > stabilize? If I were to do some key-easing on the spinet, and the humidity > then drops significantly, would I then have 'pulley,' too loose keys? > > On the grand, from examination, I worry a bit about warped keys, but won't > know that for sure until I take the action stack off and am able to handle > each key. > > It seems I have two courses of action: > 1. Do nothing at the moment, let humidity levels go down, and see how the > pianos are affected; also, strongly encourage heater bars installed on each, > preferably immediately, to stabilize the humidity in the piano itself. > 2. For immediate action, at the very least, on the spinet apply > silicone/teflon powder to the key bushings, and (very minimally) ease the key > bushings; on the grand rebush the balance rail pins, polish the balance rail > pins and front rail pins, apply silicone/teflon powder to the bushings. The > grand also calls for adjusting some of the back checks, that are 'grabbing' > the hammer tails. Also, strongly encourage heater bars for long-term > stability. > Oh, great list, I solicit your thoughts on this situation. BTW, the lady > several times made the point of saying that they were on social security, and > couldn't afford to pay much (that's not going to cause me to underbid or lower > my price--they did buy these two pianos, after all!). After about the third > time mentioning SS, I gently pointed out that I am helping to pay her social > security!! Too, from my limited exposure to sales, I remember that most > people are able to afford what they want to afford. > > Thanks for your insights and suggestions. > Richard Morgan > > > > > Be a better Heartthrob. Get better relationship answers > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=48255/*http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/_ylc=X3oDMTI5M > Gx2aThyBF9TAzIxMTU1MDAzNTIEX3MDMzk2NTQ1MTAzBHNlYwNCQUJwaWxsYXJfTklfMzYwBHNsawN > Qcm9kdWN0X3F1ZXN0aW9uX3BhZ2U-?link=list&sid=396545433> from someone who knows. > Yahoo! Answers - Check it out. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20070630/5cf4b528/attachment-0001.html
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