Wurlitzer 120 damper felt question

[SirRibin]

I'm doing some work on a wurli 120. I've installed the vintage vibe damper felts kit but they are not tall enough to touch the reed bar. The top 3rd of the notes have this wooden spacers to help with the clearance. Do I need to install these wood blocks on the other ones? Where would be a good place to buy spacers like these.

I'm wondering as well if the reed bar could be sitting up higher? The reed bar is sitting on only the rubber grommets. Thanks.

[jam88]

I'm wondering as well if the reed bar could be sitting up higher? The reed bar is sitting on only the rubber grommets. Thanks.
[/quote]

Yes! On my 120, the harp assembly sits on wooden spacers, maybe 1/8" or 3/16" thick. I'm guessing on the thickness, haven't been in there in a while. Just cut yourself some spacers to raise the reeds up to the dampers.

I'm pretty sure that the wooden spacers under the reed bar are original from the factory; I've owned this piano for fifty years.

Originally the piano had the green foam dampers  . I replaced them initially with solid felts, but a few years ago I replaced the lower notes with the vee type dampers, similar to the 200 series. I bought the damper material (for piano bass strings) as a strip from Vanda Kay, and cut them to length. For me, these work much better than the solid felt.

[jam88]

Do the hammers let off, or do they block?

If the action is fine now, raising the reed bar would require adjusting the letoff. That's a pretty quick job, using the Schaff #4102 tool (also available from Vanda Kay, I think).

But hmmm... I was just looking at the original Model 120 service manual-- the cross-section drawing with parts callouts doesn't really indicate the presence of the wooden spacers that my piano has. Okay, now I'm baffled.

[SirRibin]

But hmmm... I was just looking at the original Model 120 service manual-- the cross-section drawing with parts callouts doesn't really indicate the presence of the wooden spacers that my piano has. Okay, now I'm baffled.

It looks like I would need to raise the reed bar more than 3/8" to get good contact on the felts, this seems like too much. I feel the better solution is to add wood spacer blocks to the damper arms.

[jam88]

SirRibin,
These 120's are wierd ducks, ain't they?

My 120 clearly never had the damper extensions. I  replaced the original green foam dampers around 1970.

Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind, what's the serial number of yours? (First two or three digits is okay.)  If the s/n plate is gone, what's the amplifier's serial number?

Thanks.

[SirRibin]

Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind, what's the serial number of yours? (First two or three digits is okay.)  If the s/n plate is gone, what's the amplifier's serial number?

I'll grab the serial this evening.

Looking at pictures of other 120s, it doesn't look like those dampers should need extensions. I'll have to double check about raising the reed bar more.

[SirRibin]

SN: 19575

[pianotuner steveo]

I don't think the wooden spacers on the dampers are original. I've owned 2 120's and 2 700's, none of them had these spacers on the dampers.

The general public can not buy tools and parts from Schaff piano- you can't even view their site without an account...you really should not post that here.
You need to prove to them that you are a working technician to get an account.  There is a seller on eBay that sells this tool.

The height of the reed bar should be listed in the service manual. If it's wrong, it can severely affect the action.

[jam88]

I couldn't find the assembled reed height in the 120 (or 112) manual. If I'm missing it, please let me know! As it is, my 120 action is perfect, with the spacers under the reed bar that were there when I bought the unmolested piano in 1967.

I misspoke (mistyped?)... the source for the Schaff 4102 letoff tool is vandaking.com. Vanda King sells sell all the Schaff tools and supplies to the general public, at very good prices. I'm not affiliated with them, other than that I've done business with them for decades. Just wanted to pass this source on. They are a good source for lots of 'standard' piano tools and parts used in Wurlies (and Rhodes'), such as rail pins and punchings, damper felts, leathers, capstan tools, damper felt material, key tops, etc.

[SirRibin]

So I've figured it out a little bit. The sustain rod was too low and it was pushing down the dampers so they couldn't touch the reeds. I pulled out the sustain rod and raised the bolt that hooks into the pedal about 1/8". Still have some action to adjust and replacement keys to buy but I'm on the right track.

[DocWurly]

I believe the wooden spacers are original.  I can't remember if they are on all dampers or just on some of them, but I think they should be on ALL dampers.  I also can't remember if they are typically all the same height.  The ones in your photo looked atypically tall, though.  (It would be good to get feedback from people who have 120s in their possession--I am going from memory.)

The dampers on a 120 are NOT interchangeable.  The bass ones have the damper pads set to a different part of the reeds, and I believe there is a gradual ramping outwards, specific to each range.  On the very earliest 120's, the bass dampers have a thicker, stronger spring as well (seemingly changed up after only a few months).

[pianotuner steveo]

@jam88 I was not talking about the spacers under the reed bar. I was talking about the spacers on the damper heads. I've never seen those before.
It looks like vandaking just buys stuff from Schaff and marks it up. The tool numbered 4102 requires a separate handle to attach to, so it costs far more than the tool sold on eBay.

[pianotuner steveo]

I just looked at my 120 manual, and surprisingly it does not tell what the reed bar height should be, nor the blow distance, which is the distance between the tips of the hammers (at rest) and the bottom side of the reeds. If one of you with an unaltered Wurlitzer 120 could measure these and post them, that would be awesome for everyone. I would guess that the blow distance would be around 1 1/2", which is a little less than in an acoustic piano. The reed bar height would be from the bottom of the reed bar to the key bed (not frame, the bed that the frame attaches to)