Topics

[questions]

I've decided to open up my 'good' condition Mark 1 and give it a bit of a service - something that is new to me, but I am familiar with electrical and being 'handy', and I've been doing lots of reading in recent days.

I've broken my piano's current state and questions into sections - this probably means that I am sort of asking some questions in multiple spots.....sorry, my brain is weird and I struggle to remain succinct - appreciate you making the effort to read and advice:

Pickups

• I am pretty sure I have 'picked up' (get it?) that the pickups should be adjusted after the tines and tonebars have been placed, by moving the pickups forward and back. Is that correct?
• Should the pickups first be 'squared' to the frame? A few of my pickups are at slightly odd angles, with a few really obviously skewed out - I assume these should all be more or less straight and more or less evenly spaced up the piano?
• Is there a standard spacing between pickups? I likely have some spacers or feelers if I know the right measure.

Tines and tonebars

I think I'm across vertical alignments, and I know we want to have the tine horizontally centred on the pickup, but:
   

• How important is the centring of the tone bar itself? I've more or less been  trying this but the dog leg in the bass tines is giving me a bit of confusion and obviously the treble tines are so wide...so it shouldn't matter for them?
• A few of my tines gave quite sharp angled ends - but they are in tune. Not sure if this is just sloppy trimming from the previous owner, or maybe they broke. Does it matter, as long as its in tune and sounds consistent with the rest of the piano?
• One of my tonebars was installed upside down (number facing down). Does that make any difference or is there any reason it might have been that way?
• The letters 'ST' are written on pickup 9's bracket and 'NP' are written pickup 71's bracket. Any idea what this means?

Grounding

• I've heard tonebar grounding can help with EMF. Very few of my tonebars return to ground, even though my tape aluminium looks intact. (I *think* - see pic)
• From what I can tell, the only way the tonebar and tine can get to ground is via the spring where it is in contact with the tape, and the other end where it is in contact with the tonebar - doesn't seem like a very resilient connection to me?
• Would the inconsistent grounding likely be corrosion on the springs? Or the corrosion on the tonebar itself stopping my meter getting a read? Both?
• Should I be able to detect ground on any pickups lower than the highest pickups, which are directly series wired to ground? I can't.

   
Corrosion

• I have
  
  • Very minor white corrosion on the tonebars.
  • Moderate white corrosion on the tine blocks
  • Moderate green corrosion on some tuning springs
  • Moderate white corrosion and early rust on the harp frame and RCA angle bracket.
• I've gathered this is mostly a cosmetic issue. The lid is going back on, so I don't want to spend time scrubbing or spend money replating unless there's a real benefit.
• Is there anything else I should consider either in terms of resonance or conductivity?

   
Potential replacement parts

• I live in Australia so Vintage Vibe costs and shipping aren't great, but I'd probably consider redoing the springs, screws and grommets. Maybe the tonebar clips.
• A few of my bass tines move around 'in circles' when hit - I couldn't quite tell if this is the 'figure eight' issue I've read about.
• A few of my adjustment screws introduce significant left and right movement - but they look straight to me.
• A few of my bass tonebars have two springs on them - I guess this was a previous owner trying to deal with short/weak springs.
• I only have one tonebar clip and its placed really high - I can't quite tell if its making that much of a difference at C#8 or whatever the note is. Do people really rate these?

Based on the above, or anything else what should I be looking/listening for to see if new parts are worthwhile?