Uneven Action

[Blatboy]

After lubing up my whip assemblies on my 206, I put everything back together.

I'm so proud of myself.  No screws were left over!  (oh boy...)

However, the action on the right side of the keyboard is now uneven? 

It seems that the little gold screws where the keys contact the whip assembly would be the adjustment, but before I do anything brash, I'm curious if anyone would know what I messed up to get the action all uneven on just one side.  Maybe it's just in how I reassembled the piano? 

Any clues, or should I just try to adjust them one key at a time?

Thanks

[pianotuner steveo]

It looks like the higher keys are just not all the way down on the balance rail pins, but it is hard to tell because the amp is in the way.

[pianotuner steveo]

Please do not randomly turn screws until you learn their function. If it was fine before, that will not help.

[Blatboy]

Yeah, that's what I figured.  I'm out of town now, but will take the amp off and take a look again when I get back in town.  The keys that are "down" are too far down, so I don't think it's a situation where the keys are not down, but I could be wrong...

I really appreciate your replies.  Thanks so much!

[velo-hobo]

If you unscrewed action parts (hammer or whip assemblies) from the main rail when you lubed the action centers, it's possible that some of the flies did not properly reseat in the catcher after reassembly.  This will jam the hammer upwards and prevent proper key motion.

You can correct that situation by gently lifting the hammer and pushing down on the jack felt (the little red square of felt at the base of the fly) with either your finger or a small tool so that the hammer can fall into the proper position.  If it is really stuck, don't force it - loosen the screws on the hammer flange and/or the whip flange to free up the stuck parts and reassemble with an extra bit of care.

Like Steve said, it's hard to tell because the amp is in the way but that's my guess.  Also, I agree that you shouldn't mess with the capstan screws (the little gold ones) until you've determined that there is a particular reason that they need adjustment.

[Max Brink]

Jamming the hammers as Velo-hobo mentioned could be the case but usually that will jam the key in the up/at rest position.

If you removed the keys my first guess would be that the balance rail felts or shims fell out when or while they were removed. This would result in keys that were lower than they should be...

As for the screws (capstans), it could be too much lost motion but in this case it seems like too great of a distance that they have dropped... If you are looking for instructions on adjusting the capstans the manual has a basic explanation of how to make the adjustments. I adjust every capstan of every instrument that comes into the shop but you'll want to read up on what you're doing first.

MB

[Blatboy]

 aHA!!!!!

Indeed it was tiny felts that had scurried away when I wasn't looking!  Seems all the keys with low action lost the smaller white felt around key pin closer to the middle of the key. (The balance rail felts.) I knew I had all the bigger green ones, but I didn't even notice the small white ones.

The amazing thing is that I don't see them anywhere on the floor.  Of course, that's what I get for having a shag carpet.  It's also possible that I vacuumed some of them up when I cleaned out the inside of the unit.  (Again, not even noticing there were felts there.  Oy.  I don't get an A for observation, that's for sure.) Guess I'll get a new set of felts.

Thanks so much for all your assistance.  I'm making progress!

[Max Brink]

Good news! Leveling the keys goes a hell of a long way and you nat find it beneficial to grab some shims along with the felts to get everything in order. (send me an email and I can send you the basics).

It looks like an early 206 and you may find that upgrading the preamp will go a long way. There are some unspoken upgrades 'hidden' in the manual if you compare yours to the later 206 model  schematics. If you grab those parts on mouser you will find some very cheap and easy upgrades for your tone...

[Blatboy]

The transformer was made in 1969, so it's there is no springiness in that chicken...

Indeed, I had seen that there were some shims in there, so I did order more of those as well.  Good to have confirmation that I did the right thing.

Chances are I'm going to replace the entire amp.  While I know that's not the cheapest option, it's the easiest and the quickest (and the least likely that I'll mess something up...)  And it's still quite a bit cheaper than having someone else do the refurb...

Other things on the docket are to replace the grommets, replace some of the felts on the underside of the keys (mentioned in another thread,) replace the speakers and, if I can scrounge the extra cash, install one of those groovy variable vibratos.  Next shipment of parts should come soon and I'll keep posting pics...  Speaking of pics, you can see in the picture I took just after vacuuming part of the inside of the unit, that some of those balance rail felts are missing...  if only I had noticed that before...

[Rhythmicons]

Please do not randomly turn screws until you learn their function. If it was fine before, that will not help.

That's some wise advice there indeed.  I shamefully admit being guilty of this on the capstan screws, then saw this and laughed to myself.

Edit: I previously quoted the wrong post, sorry Steve (the post I quoted made it look like I was being condescending).