Grommet Screws

[jordanmark1]

I am getting ready to replace all the damper felts, hammer tips and grommets on my 1976 Suitcase piano.  My question is this:  would I want to replace just the tone bar grommets, or replace all the screws, too.  I've seen both options.  What would be the advantage to replacing the screws as well as the rubber grommets?  Also, I have seen several types oh hammer tips available.  Are these parts suppliers all offering pretty much the same hammers?  I have seen some that look square like the original (my hammers hit the tines right on the front edge of the hammers) and I've seen some hammers that look tapered where a flat surface would strike the tine.  What are your thoughts??

[Mark II]

Hi
welcome in the neighborhood

@grommets: if I were in your shoes and live in the US I would check this site and order new grommets, washers and screws. some of them tend to bend over the years and this results in the tine not facing the pickup straight forward.

@hammer tips. I have no idea. the ones I used were a Major Key set, bought at major key. I dont know what the others sell and where they got their parts from.
Are your tips square shaped or triangular shaped ?
It is said that the triangular work with all pianos with neoprene tips but I have heard some folk say, that the old square or rectangle shaped tips sound different = better ? than the triangular shaped tips.

http://www.fenderrhodes.com/service/hammer-tips.php

hope this help a bit
kind regard

Mark II

[jordanmark1]

Thanks for the reply and the welcome!

My hammer tips are square/rectangular, not triangles.  Are the major key tips, square?

[Mark II]

nope, the ones I got were triangular, but I own a 1980 Mark I, so it's authentic as the ones I replaced had that shape too.
I have no idea if someone supplies the square shaped tips.

Mark II

[Quatschmacher]

EP Service in the Netherlands has some NOS Rhodes square hammertips.

[Quatschmacher]

I checked out some screws of the right size in the hardware shop today. I noticed that the thread is a different size from the original screws - the distance between each ridge is bigger than on the original screws. Does anyone who has the replacement kits from MK or VV (or the McMaster screws) know if the those thread distances differ from the original factory screws?

The reason I ask is that I don't want to use a screw that will shred the board.

Thanks

[jordanmark1]

as far as thread size, it looks to me like they match the screws in the hardware store labeled "metal screws" for metal studs and things.  The head and thread looks identical.