200 series reed mounting - solder facing up or down?

[beginnersluke]

Question:

When I look at the service manual, it sure looks like the lead (solder) weight pyramid is facing down (toward the floor).



In the 206A I bought on Craigslist the weight faces up on every reed.

This seems curious (and like it would affect voicing quite a bit).

I watched some of the Vintage Vibe restoration videos, and there is seems that some face up (middle range) but some down (bass). I'm not sure that's correct, but that's what it seems like.

Thoughts, comments?

[pianotuner steveo]

Down in the bass then up after that is the way they were originally installed on later models,so VV video is correct. The early models (100 series except 106) had them all facing down if I remember correctly.

[cinnanon]

Down in the bass then up after that is the way they were originally installed on later models,so VV video is correct. The early models had them all facing down if I remember correctly.

Yep I believe 1-20 are face down, the rest are face up

[pianotuner steveo]

It sounds like a previous owner of the 206 reversed them to make them easier to tune, but that is so much work, I personally don't think it's worth it. Especially since you rarely ever have to replace and retune bass reeds. I'm not sure if it affects the voicing, however.

[cinnanon]

I think the reason they were turned face down was because they are so long. A tall solder pyramid may interfere with the damper arm if the note is struck hard.

[pianotuner steveo]

That's a good point, I've never thought of that...