Subject: [pianotech] Gordon Laughead spinet with lifter wire issues , I did a quick evaluation on a piano this afternoon, a 1961 Gordon Laughead Spinet. It has a few issues, chiefly.. When the customer is playing the piano, every now and then the lifter wire pops off the back of the key where it attaches. The lifter wire is threaded with a dowel and two different thicknesses of felt washers. The U-shaped metal bracket at the back of the key that holds the lifter wires in place seems to attach between the two felts. > Rob, Rob, This type of lifter wire is usually inserted into a hole at the back of the key and not into a fork as shown. They still have a tendancy to pop out especially on a sharp blow but when inserted into a fork as you have here I can see why they won't stay put. The typical pickup wire for a key as shown has a nut and rubber (neoprene) grommet .. I wonder if these were changed after manufacture or it was a factory decision. It's possible a tech replaced the grommets when they went bad with this setup. I would see if a new grommet would fit into the fork and if so make the change. Use care when adjusting these when they are tight. The wire will rotate and can break the whippen where the elbow is pinned.It's a bit awkward when the action is in but I grap the elbow with a parallel pliers under the keybed and turn the nut with the Schaff tool that looks like # 3333 in the most recent catalog. My first mentor , the late Paul Hegent of Sebring Fl. sold new Laugheads out of his shop but this was in 1973-4 not 61' . Good luck, Tom D. > >
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