key click

[Les Smith]

On Thu, 24 Sep 1998, Richard Moody wrote:

> The spinet I tuned today, (Gulbransen) ( not that bad) had a click.  It
> was the bridle wire brushing against the neighbor um... well I forgot the
> name of the pull up wire or rod in spinets.  
> Another piano today had a click upon return, the key cover(s)
> (replacements) was loose, bowed somehow and the old adhesive not strong
> enough to hold it down so it made a click when finger lifted off. 

Hi, Richard:

To all the good advice coming in on this problem, I would add ano-
ther possible cause--one you DON'T want to find. In older spinet
pianos, clicks are often caused by PLASTIC flanges (and maybe a
whole lot of other plastic parts) with loose screws. The repair
is straight-foward. You simply tighten the screw, watch helplessly
as the flange breaks, and then replace it with a wooden one. When
business is slow, a few clicks in an old spinet can be interpreted
as good news. In short order, you may find yourself replacing all
the damper levers and their flanges (felts, too, of course); the
hammer flanges; the wippen flanges; the jacks and their flanges;
88 plastic lifter-elbows; and then regulating the whole thing.
Then, if the owner has any money left, you can tune it, too. :) 

Les Smith