Hi
I've got my first Rhodes, it's a 1979 Rhodes in terrible condition. I'm gonna replace the hammertips soon and was wondering the best way to remove the old ones. The bass hammer tips came off quite easily, but the others dosen't seem to want to come off. I'm worried about using any chemicals, because I don't want to melt the plastic.
What would you suggest?
I've also just rewinded my first pickup, but I'm not quite sure what kind of tape to use. What abilities does it need to have.
Thanks for reading.
Kindly regards WilliamUhre
https://www.amazon.com/DIY-Glitter-Washi-Tape-Set/dp/B07KF2X6R7/ref=sr_1_1_sspa
I am so sorry. I couldn't resist.
Sean
Quote from: sean on March 28, 2019, 02:06:18 AM
https://www.amazon.com/DIY-Glitter-Washi-Tape-Set/dp/B07KF2X6R7/ref=sr_1_1_sspa
Haha, it would look amazing with 73 pickups with that tape ;D But I think I'll pass ;)
Quote from: WilliamUhre on March 27, 2019, 02:54:24 PM
Hi
I've got my first Rhodes, it's a 1979 Rhodes in terrible condition. I'm gonna replace the hammertips soon and was wondering the best way to remove the old ones. The bass hammer tips came off quite easily, but the others dosen't seem to want to come off. I'm worried about using any chemicals, because I don't want to melt the plastic.
What would you suggest?
I've also just rewinded my first pickup, but I'm not quite sure what kind of tape to use. What abilities does it need to have.
Thanks for reading.
Kindly regards WilliamUhre
Single-edge razor blades work well for getting tips off. You may have a little scraping/clean-up to do after the rubber tip is off.
Thanks pnoboy, I'll try that.
BTW, if I were winding my own pickups, I would not install any tape around the windings. The pickups don't need protection when they are installed in the piano - the top cover keeps the dust off. The enamelled wire doesn't need protection. The tape just attracts dust, and slowly turns to a sticky mess.
If the pickups were going to sit around in a factory environment with sawdust, soot, grit, and dust; then the layer of tape makes sense.
The tape doesn't protect the windings from solder blobs or much of anything anyway.
Sean
I just figured it would be nice to keep the wire a littel safer. But your right that it doesn't need tape.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll probably just drop the tape idea. Luckily I don't need to rewire alot of pickups since I have some extra.
Kindly regards WilliamUhre
I like the idea of using tape. I can imagine a situation where someone drops a screwdriver, or something, while working on a piano and the tip hits a pickup winding. There are electronics-grade tapes that, as far as I know, don't get gummy, etc. with age. Most such tapes are Mylar with an acrylic adhesive. 3M and others make a selection. If you see a cylindrical capacitor covered in yellow tape that's typically what you're looking at. I would not use an inexpensive consumer-grade tape.
Quote from: pnoboy on April 03, 2019, 11:49:13 AM
I like the idea of using tape. I can imagine a situation where someone drops a screwdriver, or something, while working on a piano and the tip hits a pickup winding. There are electronics-grade tapes that, as far as I know, don't get gummy, etc. with age. Most such tapes are Mylar with an acrylic adhesive. 3M and others make a selection. If you see a cylindrical capacitor covered in yellow tape that's typically what you're looking at. I would not use an inexpensive consumer-grade tape.
That's also what I thought, but I'm unsure what kind of tape to use. Does it need to heat resistent(I don't think so), or some kind of electric tape. It's also important what you said about it not becomming sticky.
But anyway, I got almost all the pickups replaced, I just want to know for future pickup rewinds.
pno- do you mean like Kapton tape?
I've also been replacing hammer tips (76 mark I suitcase) and after using just my fingers which became less and less effective, I switched to pliers. I hold the plastic arm with one hand and grab the hammer tip with the pliers in the other. They came off super fast, but i did have to end up scraping some residual material off the plastic after.
I tried with pliers, but only the bass hammer tips came off with ease. I've gotten all the wood core hammer tips and bass hammer tips off. It just took alot of time to take the wood core hanmers off and to remove the residual left. I thought there were a smarter way, but I guess I'll just take my time, and do it the slow way.
Kindly regards William
Have you tried very carefully heating the base of the stubborn tips with a hairdryer? You may need to keep the pliers in one hand and the hairdryer in the other. Just be careful not to warp or melt the hammers.
Quote from: sean on April 04, 2019, 10:28:40 PM
pno- do you mean like Kapton tape?
This is the kind of tape I was referring to http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/143111O/3mtm-1350-tape.pdf (http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/143111O/3mtm-1350-tape.pdf) .
Here's another one, but Teflon instead of polyester.
https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/37399O/tape-63.pdf (https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/37399O/tape-63.pdf)
Note that the description for both tapes indicates that they are used for wrapping coils and capacitors.
Quote from: pianotuner steveo on April 07, 2019, 07:34:41 AM
Have you tried very carefully heating the base of the stubborn tips with a hairdryer? You may need to keep the pliers in one hand and the hairdryer in the other. Just be careful not to warp or melt the hammers.
I tried, but the hammer was beginning the melt before I could do much. I will try again with just a pair of pliers, last time I just felt like I were gonna breake the hammer if I put more pressure on the pliers.
Thanks for the input!
Quote from: pnoboy on April 07, 2019, 04:18:02 PM
Quote from: sean on April 04, 2019, 10:28:40 PM
pno- do you mean like Kapton tape?
This is the kind of tape I was referring to http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/143111O/3mtm-1350-tape.pdf (http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/143111O/3mtm-1350-tape.pdf) .
Here's another one, but Teflon instead of polyester.
https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/37399O/tape-63.pdf (https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/37399O/tape-63.pdf)
Note that the description for both tapes indicates that they are used for wrapping coils and capacitors.
Thanks pnoboy, that was exactly what i was looking for!