Wurlitzer Metal Pinblock

[Tom Myler]

> From: Patrick C. Poulson <bonifarm@oro.net>
> To: pianotech@byu.edu
> Subject: Wurlitzer Metal Pinblock
> Date: Thursday, January 23, 1997 3:12 PM
>
> List Members:  It's odd how serendipitous the discussions on this list
> can be.  Just a little while ago there was a discussion of Wurlitzers
> with metal pinblocks, and now today I was called out to evaluate one
> of these curiosities locally.  The instrument actually seems to be
> doin well for its age (1929), and seems serviceable despite the
> excessive tighteness of the tuning pins.  The only real problem it has
> is that the bass strings have gotten very tubby and need to be
> replaced.  Does anyone have any experience in restringing one of these
> beasts, and are there any unusual precautions or procedures in
> replacings strings?  Thanks for your help, Patrick Poulson, RPT


I've tuned a couple of these creatures (one grand, one studio) and also
found that they tune up fine once you adjust to the excessive pin
tightness.

I've never restrung one, but know a tech who did.  It was an "Apollo"
(Wurlitzer) grand.  He'd been tuning it for years and never suspected
anything unusual about the pins/block.  He only discovered the oddity when
he began disassembling it.  I guess he'd never had reason to get at the
action, where he might have noticed the little wedges under the block.

My (vague) recollection is that unusual precautions or procedures, if any,
were self-evident; there weren't any awful surprises or realizations once
the restringing job was underway.


Myler, Tom

"It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts"