2 flat reeds

[Tonewheel]

I may not have searched here hard enough, but I am hoping that someone can advise.
I have a 200A from the 70s with 2 reeds that are flat, in spite of my trying to reposition them forward as much as possible. That worked for 3 others that were flat.
So, I can order the new ones, which will cost about $100 Canadian with delivery, or I can try filing.
Questions:
1.  With the power off, has anyone tried a Dremel with smaller sanding head to remove tiny amounts at a time from the top of the solder mound?
2.  Is it risky to gently, manually file while still installed?
3.  Any other tips?
Thanks very much.

[pianotuner steveo]

You can carefully file installed reeds if the piano is UNPLUGGED from the wall. Also, clean the dust completely off before turning back on. Only file a tiny amount at a time or u may go too far. If you hear loud crackling after turning on, the solder dust is shorting out. Turn off and clean again. You can try cleaning with compressed air in a can, but the condensation can also cause it to crackle until it warns back up.
Do not file the aluminum of the pickup!

[pianotuner steveo]

A couple more things- high treble reeds can actually snap while filing, so be extra careful there. I've never tried a dremel, but that idea might work ok if on the longer reeds. I'd be afraid to use it on the small treble reeds (afraid of pressing too hard and breaking)

[Tonewheel]

Very kind advice. I had read a Facebook post from a tech who had to service a 200a where a novice had filed the actual reeds themselves!

I have the power off (using the knob) when I am adjusting the reeds, but are you saying that the capacitors could give me trouble or leakage from line voltage?

I keep getting ads for turbo handheld blowers and maybe one would work for cleaning particles.

I also have some reeds that have lower volume than others. Bending the adjacent leaves of the pickup slightly upwards even with the reed seems to be one solution, and would you agree?

Thanks very much.

[Alan Lenhoff]

Little bits of debris can cause so much mayhem inside a Wurli that I would remove the reeds before filing them, and I would clean them carefully before reinstalling and testing them. If you decide to blast the piano with compressed air after you file, you may just spread debris up and down the reed bar. 

Yeah, you might have to repeat the remove-and-reinstall routine multiple times to get the tuning right, but you're only talking about two reeds. A tech who has to tune 15 reeds may have a method to file them in situ without causing issues, but I've never found one that works for me.

Alan

[Tonewheel]

Novice here, now with great respect for the Wurli techs.

There is something about help from a forum that gives you the courage to forge ahead. The warnings about filing in place made me decide to not be so lazy.

So I removed the G2 and used a sponge sander to sand the pyramid a little, just enough to see scratches.
Wish I had tiny fingers, because getting that reed and screw out without dropping it into the shadows is a challenge, as is the reverse. 

Funny, because the pitch rises a bit with really tightening. Good to know. Just that tiny amount of sanding brought the pitch into an acceptable range. What I mean by that is that I am using the free app, PanoTuner, and when you are close, the needle is in the green, but not dead centre. Sounds good enough for now, and sometimes best is the enemy of good.

So I went for the C#4 which was flat. That one made me nervous because of its delicacy or fragility. I did minimal sanding, and found that positioning these smaller reeds is a pain. At times it sounded like it was going to be the same pitch as C4 as I was testing powered off. Not for long.

I need to get a set of operating headlamp/lenses that the specialty surgeons use in the OR.

No question that tightening it right up brought it up to an acceptable pitch.

I can say that trying to slide the reed forward as far as possible in the screw does actually work for those reeds that are a little flat. I went after C1 after the above and it worked.

Thanks for the advice, Alan and Steve! Now on to other fixes...

[Tonewheel]

Although a retired health professional, I was a band drummer in my youth, primarily, but always enjoyed playing keyboards and guitars and still jam. Here is what the 200A sounds like after the maintenance, on an iPhone: https://voca.ro/15byoWT1fkUg[/url]  I really love the action compared to the Rhodes, even though I had done the miracle mod" or "bump" to improve the feel. I think the Wurlitzer engineers hit it out of the park.

[Alan Lenhoff]

Good for you for solving your tuning issue.  I think the goal with a Wurli is to get its tuning "close enough" to make your ears happy. Filing a pyramid of solder is hardly a design that allows for precise tuning. And some of its funky charm, IMHO, is related to not being tuned as perfectly as a digtal instrument. Love it for being a perfectly imperfect instrument.

Alan

[Tonewheel]

Absolutely. I think the Ray Charles' What'd I Say" was so good because of the funky messed-up keys and reeds on that old Wurli.

You gave great advice.

On another note (pun) I had 3 notes that kept ringing and tried to rotate that back vertical screw to dampen better but to no avail. So I teased the felts a bit and pulled their forked beards wdownward hile securing them so the glue didn't give way and that did the trick. Its so nice to have analog things like the Hammond and Wurli and Rhodes that just need some TLC. Heaven help me when The Korg M1 or the DX7 go...

[pianotuner steveo]

IMHO, I think the main problem with digital versions of Wurlitzers is that they are tuned too perfectly. I think they would sound more realistic if you could detune notes a little...
When I use the Wurlitzer settings on my Kawai (my avatar) I usually drop the pitch a little - A438-A439, but that tunes every note at once. It does seem to sound a little more realistic when playing along with recordings, however.

[Tonewheel]

Very interesting. If every note in a string session was in tune with all others, I think it would sound dead. Fortunately, they usually use a vibrato to "hide" the "error" but, error and vibrato combined, there is an unmistakable beauty to it. 

I have a DX7 and a TX7 piggybacked with Midi, and I detune one to the other, which makes piano sounds gorgeous, almost a chorus effect. Very boring when they are both at 440.

You can go too far with detuning! When I was in medical practice, I was losing hearing such that stethoscope audio was poor, so I underwent surgery. For days, one ear was a semi-tone off the other!!! I thought my music life was over. But it's a condition called diplacusus, and gradually resolved once the inflammations settled down. Unfortunately, there are some very bad bands out there with permanent, unredeemable diplacusus, and they should be encouraged to take up another profession...