sparkle top restoration

[turtle13]

so i picked up what i am assuming is a 65-67 sparkle top, since all of the action is wood, and have run into a couple of issues during restoration. First off and most important, what can i do about heavily grooved tear drop hammers. i have read that you can shave the top as long as they are all shaved equally and only to about 3/16ths off. i would under take this but i am already having some action issues.  
I have also had to remove the preamp that resides within the chassis, as it no longer functions due to no amp or speakers inside the suitcase... but with passive electronics and a seymour duncan pickup booster as the pre-amp i get a large amount of buzz. what can i do to remedy this, shielding the underside of the harp cover?
I also have a few dead tines, is there anything i can do to try to resurrect them as they are the early untapered raymac tines? also as these are really expensive to buy replacements for.
i picked it up for ridiculously cheep so i am not too concerned with keeping it stock, but due to the rarity of this piano i want to keep it within reason. as long as everything looks stock i am happy, but i at least want to get it playable across the entire piano before i go to far...

for those of you who own early sparkle tops what are your recommendations?

[Rob A]

I'm not a sparkle top owner, but my piano tech files the hammers on my grand with nothing fancier than a strip of sandpaper adhered to a wooden block.

[Ben Bove]

Hey turtle, first off congrats on actually finding one of these Rhodes.  Before we get started, could we get a couple pictures of it?  We have so few cases of these models, I'd love if you had a digital camera to take close-up pictures of the Rhodes, the Poweramp in the bottom cabinet (if still there), a picture of the inside action, and maybe a pic of the serial gold badge.  The more the better!  If this is possible please send to datarhodes@hotmail.com would be much appreciated.  

Also, can I get the serial number on the badge, and any date code markings you see on the harp?  If there are none on the harp, there should be one on the lowest "E" key, on the side of the key stamped in ink.  This will give you a good idea of the date of the Rhodes (though it's a date applied by the key manufacturer).

They are much more sensitive to adjustment than later Rhodes.  I don't know the best method for reducing the hammer grooves, however I can't imagine sandpaper being bad.  Ideally you'd want to replace the felt to original height however I'm sure it's a heavy job, so that may be your only alternative.  As a temporary fix, you may want to slide the harp over to the left or right to expose a new surface to the hammer, keeping the vertical strike line the same however.  It may take some playing around to find the sweet spot.

The buzzing is a common problem on these.  What they lack is a grounding wire from the harp, to the sustain rail.  If you go to radio shack and buy a clip lead (alligator clips on both sides, attached with a wire), connect one clip to the metal harp frame (or the black ground on the RCA jack of the harp), and then a clip to the metal sustain rail under it.  Check if this is the problem first by bridging the connection with a screwdriver or metal object.

Finding the Raymac tines will be very, very difficult.  Not so much cost, but availability.  Your best bet is either to try to contact musicpartsguru.com or to look for a parts student piano from that era (the "jetsons" looking ones).  Worst case scenario you can replace with the later style tines but they will sound slightly different.  Nothing terrible.

[turtle13]

i will most definitely post up some pics. it is at my old bands house right now so that may take a little bit to get over there... my only reservation about sanding the hammers is that i have a few keys that you have to pound the keys to get them to sound. so if i do this it may throw everything out of whack. i already replaced all the damper felts on the board and that helped tremendously. but slowly but surely i am going through tuning, fixing sticking dampers and funky sounding keys. but the work is slow.
would lowering the escapement on these keys help the action issue, even though it would limit your adjustability on the tone bar assembly? is 3/16ths the correct escapement on this piano.
unfortunately the cabinet has been gutted... no electronics period. once the funds free up i plan on fixing the stock pre-amp that some one previous to me had tried to wire up to a makeshift power supply to use sans power amp... however i lust for the origional for the time being.
oh and for those that own one of these and have worn felts on the tone bar assembly...
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Black-Felt-Washers-12?sku=420800
those felts are perfect and way less pricey than what a piano supply house recomends.

[Ben Bove]

Well the escapement on these is tricky.  I know a few people like Fred, hrees, and i forget who else off hand have more experience with the felt models.

For my 68 student piano, it was under some heavy double-striking duress.  The whole piano was a thunk-fest.  I had to raise the harp up a good deal to get a clean strike, and yet I can still play quietly.

If you lower the escapement on these pianos, it seems the hammers are more likely to double-strike.  I could be wrong, but by all means play around with it.

[Fred]

In addition to escapement adjustments, be sure your piano is setup with proper stop-lock... If keydip was altered at some point, or an action modification was performed, the key pedistal may not make full contact with the flat section of the hammer cam when the key is depressed. Those teardrop hammers need all the braking power they can get.
 70's tines make great replacements, but not so much in the extreme bass section. They are too flexible, hitting the tonebar, and they require a different stiking point. So, NEVER sacrifice a low note to get through the gig after busting middle C in sound check!

[jim]

i would suss out some piano repair sites for the sanding of the hammers, or ask pianotuner steveo who would totally know the method.

i know there is a trick where you rule a line from the back of the hammer to the center of the front, and sand based on this line as the strike point. but yeah it's a definite method that you should suss out.

also, if you're ever buying an acoustic piano, if you see pencil lines on the side of the hammers, you know it's been played more than the hammer grooves indicate!

[sean]

I thought that you could pick out the deep groove with a needle, but maybe that is the wrong technique.

Putting naptha and other liquids on the felt sounds risky to me, too.

But it is not unheard of to put little leather strips on the hammers.  So, instead of felt hitting the tines, it would be leather.  I think the buckskin or "action leather" that the piano supply houses sell would be the right stuff.

Here are online "Hammer Voicing" instructions:
http://www.stevespianoservice.com/29-hmvoc.htm

sean

[turtle13]

Leather may not be a bad idea... It would give it a little bit edgier sound as well which I like the idea of. However due to the action delemas it may add too much width and cause some hammer/damper sticking issues...

[hobsound]

This is an old thread, but wondering how this restore went.  I have a similar piano with similar issues and trying to decide what to do about these hammers.  The piano I just purchased is an all-original, and fully functioning Piano "Celeste", 49 Key. It has a pedestal bump, and a Jordan preamp, and it's in very nice shape cosmetically, but the action is not great.  The previous owner's dad was a producer at Colombia Records in LA in the 60s, and apparently Leo Fender gifted this to him.  It was then immediately given to his 12 year old son, who has had it ever since, and I don't think he ever lifted the lid. 

[spave]

This is an old thread, but wondering how this restore went.  I have a similar piano with similar issues and trying to decide what to do about these hammers.  The piano I just purchased is an all-original, and fully functioning Piano "Celeste", 49 Key. It has a pedestal bump, and a Jordan preamp, and it's in very nice shape cosmetically, but the action is not great.  The previous owner's dad was a producer at Colombia Records in LA in the 60s, and apparently Leo Fender gifted this to him.  It was then immediately given to his 12 year old son, who has had it ever since, and I don't think he ever lifted the lid. 

Sounds like a really cool piano! Please post a few photos or a video of it if possible. Hardly any footage exists of these online.