Recent Posts

1

The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Recommended (cheap, generic) replacement speakers for 200A

« Last post by Electrickey on Today at 04:38:15 AM »

Speakers aren't going to fry your amp

Thank you!

But if you don't use the proper impedance your amp is looking for, you won't get the same volume response out of your piano's amp if the impedance is different from the original.

The original impedance seen by the 200A amp is 8 ohms, with two 16 ohm speakers wired in parallel.

Also keep in mind that speakers are part of the character of the piano.

• If you don't use the originals or replacements that have been designed like/close to the originals, you won't get the classic sound and any aftermarket speaker may have frequency responses that don't bring out the proper sound of the piano.

Then again that may not matter to you.

With any speaker/ speaker replacement, it's a gamble as to how any one speaker will react in any instrument.

Be prepared for this gamble on the tone.

What are your priorities?

2

The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: "Flower head" screws replacement

« Last post by Electrickey on Today at 03:47:18 AM »

My tech just screwed up those even if I warned him about this.

Owning a vintage instrument needs a tech that is sensitive to that whole game.

• Don't assume that the next guy (tech) is going to be on the same page with you as far as how rare the instrument is he's working on unless he happens to repair that particular instrument as part of his daily business.

You have to be on guard that at any moment, someone will do something wrong to the instrument. And be ready FOR THE PITFALLS OF THE TYPICAL MISTAKES, just anyone would recreate simply because they have no idea what the instrument is or how hard and expensive it is to get parts.

it's just the nature of the beast when importing goods.

Amen!

If authenticity is your goal, better get them now before things get worse for shipping.

Insurance on ships is going to go up, 400% (courtesy of what's been happening lately), so that's going to mean shipping costs are going to go up.

As has been suggested, find some large flat head screws at your hardware store, preferably black if your Wurli is basic black or paint the ones that you find.

Flathead carriage bolts would look similar from 50 feet.





But using a carriage bolt would mean there is the square nut shape under the head which is typical of a carriage bolt because it does not have driver slots. YMMV and short of grinding off the edges to remove the corners of the built-in nut, you may have to allow the nut to embed itself into the vinyl of your piano.

These are not bad for the hex slot.






If you're going to restore a vintage, not made anymore instrument and you're not living in the country that made it, then be prepared to take on a rich-man's hobby.
 

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The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Recommended (cheap, generic) replacement speakers for 200A

« Last post by Electrickey on Today at 03:14:37 AM »

3% import taxes + 21% VAT + customs agent payment,

Where is as is.

Owning a vintage musical instrument comes at a price.

Be glad you don't live on the moon...

What happened to the original speakers in your piano?

Find what you can in your area that is close and make or have someone make a thin sturdy adapter out of wood, metal or plastic.

4

The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Noise in the amplifier.

« Last post by Electrickey on Yesterday at 06:42:26 AM »

Hi from Spain.
Thanks for your answer!
  My soldering iron and my welding skills are basic so I will take the amplifier to a technician to check the welds.
I've worked a lot on this piano and I have to try to make the noise disappear, it's the most important thing!
I will also check the ground points.
Thanks for everything.

You may want to impress upon your technician that you would like each solder joint reflowed. It would be best that you do not assume the technician will think to do this. It will take some time to do each and every weld point.

What we are explaining to you is a repair procedure that we've discovered as owners/service people on these instruments and may not be part of your technician's habits.

If your technician understands the complete reflow procedure we've described on this instrument, then no problem.

Before you leave your instrument at the technician's shop, you would want to know that they have repaired a Wurlitzer electric piano before.

If not, try and find a technician, or another musician-hobbyist like yourself with more experience with a solder station and on complex circuit boards.

• It is important that when reflowing each weld, that the solder does not connect outside of each weld's circuit, not touching other welds, that should remain separate from the other and that the solder iron does not burn the board or overheat the components. This is why a proper solder station unit is needed to quickly apply the right amount of heat in the quickest amount of time and that one's solder skills are good enough to do this.

• The 200A's circuit broads are now 50 years. They may need a better modern solder station.

I used one of these on my 200A's amp and preamp and purchased it just for reflowing the Wurli's electronics. It measures the amount of heat needed at the weld and applies just enough heat to melt and flow the solder.

This is not the type of station using a manual heat control knob or button.



The Jovy iSolder 40 is a copy (somewhat) of the Metcal smart solder made in China. 

Metcal makes many models. They are pricey.

See video below for the Metcal.

https://vimeo.com/200519529



Suffice it to say my Jovy lasted just a little longer (about 2 years) after reflowing the welds on the 200A. Something happened within the pencil itself and getting a repair response from Jovy was a dead-end. It served its purpose at $100.

Video for the iSolder 40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yl3BaCRzBk

No solder kit is complete without one of these:

Forget that wet sponge. This brass wool pad is the way to go to clean tips without using water and a plastic sponge.
There are other versions of this same system using the brass wool ball.

5

The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Noise in the amplifier.

« Last post by Argi on Yesterday at 01:07:02 AM »

Hi from Spain.
Thanks for your answer!
  My soldering iron and my welding skills are basic so I will take the amplifier to a technician to check the welds.
I've worked a lot on this piano and I have to try to make the noise disappear, it's the most important thing!
I will also check the ground points.
Thanks for everything.

6

The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Wurly 112 Opinons.

« Last post by pianotuner steveo on June 14, 2019, 06:25:37 AM »

Morelock's is still in business? Wow. I remember many years ago they told me they didn't have much left.

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The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Wurly 112 Opinons.

« Last post by DocWurly on June 13, 2019, 10:42:13 PM »

Get the new stock Vintage Vibe reeds.

I love Morelock's, I rely on them for any number of things.  But if you order "112 reeds" from them, you will get any random leftover reed they have, and the vast likelihood is that they won't fit.  This is the voice of sad experience.

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The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Intermittent Noise in 200A with original amp

« Last post by pianotuner steveo on June 13, 2019, 01:24:42 PM »

I got my 200A for only $50 because the amp was very flaky, and the seller felt bad about charging me that much!
I took it apart, and it had maybe 2 cold solder joints. I reflowed all of them, and it's been fine ever since, roughly 25 years now.

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The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Intermittent Noise in 200A with original amp

« Last post by Electrickey on June 13, 2019, 12:33:37 PM »

I have inspected solder joints.

As has been mentioned a number of times in other threads, reflowing ALL the solder joints is key to finding static and thunderstorms even before replacing parts.

How sure are you that replacing the resistors was actually the problem and not that the solder joint was just reflowed in the process?

Inspecting joints does not always present the problem. The joint can be defective underneath the solder where the part connects to the board and can't be seen.

Figure a 50 year old electronic instrument, things can get iffy from age and oxidation of connections.

Hence doing a complete reflow job on both the amp and preamp will at least narrow things down.

I did this with my 200A, it would sit on for an hour and then all of a sudden cough and wheeze until I did the total reflow job. Has not made a peep since.

I did use good solder though and a heat adjustable computer controlled soldering station reflowing every joint.

I hesitated assuming the parts were at fault off the bat losing tolerance as I didn't want to change the tone of the piano, preferring to keep everything as original factory parts as possible.

10

The Wurlitzer Electric Piano / Re: Old 200A amplifiers

« Last post by Electrickey on June 13, 2019, 07:56:14 AM »

Rather than assuming changing the amp because others are doing it, ask yourself what you want out of your vintage Wurlitzer?

Do you want the classic sound heard on countless albums?

If so, then hang on to your amp.

The reason you won't see the original amps up for sale is because not every one wants to change the character of the original just to gain a few cents of a db in hum control.

There are people who "upgrade" just for the sake of upgrading. But is changing the character of an instrument an upgrade?

In the end, changing the original parts of a vintage instrument devalues it. That's something else to consider.

Ever hear the Wurli/vocal version song Woodstock by Joni Mitchell?