Another Electrical problem with my Wurli 120

[Pianokeys]

okay, so I've been working on this thing for a while, I got good tubes in it and it played really well other than some of the more obvious action problems which I'm slowly working on.  I replaced the speaker wire with some high-end oxygen free cable, and I was going to replace the piano harp pickup cable's old and cracked RCA connector with a hi-fi cast chrome jack.


The problem is, now that I've switched it out, all I was getting was this hugely loud and obnoxious static and electrical noise, no notes. Upon further investigation, I found that one or two of the notes did indeed play, but incredibly loudly and distorted. Looking closer at the pickup, I could see sparks jumping between the tine and the top of the pickup (non-ground). Later on, I turned it back on to demonstrate to one of my friends what was happening, and it did nothing. I tested the cable and it was fine. I tested the harp, and there was continuity between the connectors, meaning that there's a short somewhere. However, I'm not sure how this happened, or whether that short was the cause of the noise, as now that I detect the short, I get no sound except for when I disconnect the wire from the amplifier (which makes the kind of sound you'd expect for disconnecting a wire from an amp.)

yea, anyway, I'm just looking for ideas.

[Pianokeys]

Okay, so I know what's wrong now. The top bits of the harp pickup are offset somehow. I've got it mostly working, but sometimes electricity still arcs and it causes a lot of noise. The action is horrid on the thing right now, too. it must be the temperature in my room.  Does anyone know about adjusting wurli actions?

[Fred]

The "arcing" is common on Wurlis. Anything from solder filings to dust can lodge between the pickup and the reed causing a short and consequently, alot of noise. Make sure all reeds have an equal gap on either side between the pickup, and clean the thing. I take a very small, clean artist's brush and a shop vac w/ the long narrow attachment. Lift the dampers and brush around the reeds and pickup area while vacuuming at the same time. Vacuum dampers too. Never file a reed in the piano to avoid a future disaster. The Wurlitzer manuals are very helpful in explaining action adjustments. I think there's a 120 service manual on ebay right now.

[Pianokeys]

Leave it to some asshole to sell 45 cents worth of xerox to someone for 15 bucks.

[Fred]

I hear you, but what can ya do??? You gotta learn action adjustments somehow...Unless you want to wait around for an original, which really aren't all that much to look at...

[Pianokeys]

my point was that they're making a ton of money off of you with almost no overhead.

[Fred]

Yeah, I got your point.  So how's the Wurli? I just snagged a 120 off ebay. Should be here next week...

[Pianokeys]

For how much?

[Fred]

$430. plus shipping. In the pics it looks cosmetically decent, though far from perfect, and its missing only the music rack and the power light lens.