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Messages - nate

#1
Here's a few shots of my KMC I:


This is how it looked when I picked it up.  Got if off craigslist here in Nashville for $350.  Most of the plastic trim was cracked and peeling, and the walnut veneer on the sides was torn and chipped.  The grille cloth was frayed and stained, and somebody had duct-taped the metronome knob to keep it from being turned on, which left a bunch of residue.

I thought about leaving the outside alone and just fixing the guts, but decided that if I'm going to have it sitting out in my home and studio, then I want it to be functional AND look nice.

I completely dismantled it and filled in as many cracks and chips as I could.  Then I sanded and painted it, and replaced the plastic trim.



I pulled out the action, and found that it had plastic/wood hammers with the original square felt tips on most of them.  Some in the middle octave had been replaced with neoprene years ago.  I replaced all the damper felts, all the pedestal felts, and the namerail felt.  I also found a small stamped date code on the bottom of the harp:





Then I moved and it sat for about 6 months before I could get back to it.  Last week I replaced the tonebar grommets, screws, and washers, and fixed some of the upper damper felts (thanks to this board)  that I had installed wrong.  It plays great now, except I think I need new bridle straps on about 3 notes.

Oh, here's what it looks like now:



I added a parallel direct out from the harp in place of the mic input and replaced the orange neon bulb with a bright red LED.  I also replaced the rotary power switch/source selector with a giant toggle switch and put new knobs on it.  I also had to order a new "Seventy-Three" logo.

Here's it's cousins, my chopped/modded Wurli 206A:



And my refinished M3:

#2
Quote from: "pianotuner steveo"Also-those felts don't look original to me-either that or they may have been mounted wrong. Mine stand up higher and don't go as close to the pickup (they're thinner) Maybe when you replaced them,those felts should have been mounted standing up on end instead of laying down? That's how mine are in a stage piano.
I'm not that familiar with the KMC model though, I could be wrong.

That may very well be.  The original felts (and they were certainly original) were so mangled and grooved that I didn't trust using them as a template.  I assumed the new ones were mounted flat like that.  I can't remember where I ordered the kit from, but I'm pretty sure I have a few extras somewhere, and I know I have plenty of adhesive left.  I'll try salvaging as many as I can.

Thanks for the help.
#3
I bought a KMC 1 almost a year ago and I'm finally getting around to setting it up.  I replaced all the old heavily grooved felt hammer tips with neoprene, all the damper felts, all the key pedestal felts, and the namerail felt right after I bought it.  I  finally finished replacing all the tonebar grommets, screws, and washers this week.  The escapement looks good, and the tines are pretty well aligned with the pickups.  However, when I went to set the pickup distance on the last two octaves or so, it seems that the dampers are hitting the bottom of the pickups to varying degrees and not contacting the tines at all, and it gets worse the farther right I go up the keyboard.  The strikeline looks good across the whole harp.  It's almost like the dampers aren't long enough.

Any idea how to go about fixing this?