Questions about reeds and on/off buttons

[alexdecker]

Hi all

Just bought my first Wurlitzer piano. It is actually in a rather good condition, with the exception of the feeds. No sluggish action and all, and it is not noisy. It is a 200A model. Dont know how to figure out when its from though...

Now, questions about the reeds. The top 6 reeds all seem to be bent upwards, resulting in no volume when I play them. I know reeds are sensible, and I know they probably ended up like that because of a strike line issue. Question is, can I bent them back, or will that result in them breaking. Besides them, I got 9 cracked reeds, so replacing all these reeds is going to be a costly affair.

Which leads me to my next question: Do I need a mold to make my own reeds? Or is it possible to do by hand? Anyone has some good tips?

On another note, my piano has a white on/off buttom on the left cheek block. I haven't seen that on any pictures of a Wurlitzer before. I thought the volume knob turned it on or off. My model is a european 220V though, so might be different? It looks like it was professionally installed though.

- Alex

[DocWurly]

In terms of dating....

What is the serial number?

Post pix...

this link will help you date it:

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=9303.0

And no, it's not easy to make your own reeds.  Buying blanks from Vintage Vibe is a good way to go.... or just buy specific notes you need.

Sure, why not try to bend back the upper reeds?  You have little to lose, as they aren't working now.  I've done it successfully a few times. If they break.... at least you tried.  Maybe you can gently hammer them flat?  Get more opinions. I forget what I did.

[alexdecker]

Thanks for the reply!

Just wanted to post a picture of the instrument, so you guys can see the on/off button:



– Alex

[DocWurly]

Serial number plate is on the underside. take a photo?

[funkylaundry]

Congratulations with the Wurli! They are a rare find around here. The on/off button is definitely not standard. Not on 220V models either. Somebody must have replaced the volume pot and have been unable to find an original switching-type pot.

You don't need the mold to prepare tines from scratch. It does take a while to build up a solder blob without a mold, though, but as I remember there is hardly any solder on the top tines anyway, so I'm not sure the mold would be useful there.