Butterfly Grand

[pianoman]

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> From: JIMRPT@aol.com
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Butterfly Grand
> Date: Tuesday, July 08, 1997 3:37 PM
> 
> List;
>   I have been asked to look at a Wurlitzer Butterfly Grand for
restoration.
>  After explaing to the customer that the cost might well outweigh the
value
> of the instrument, the customer said she wants the evaluation anyway.
>  
Dear Jim Bryant
Strange how things work.  This morning I did my second tuning from a pitch
raise 2 weeks ago (-72c then and -8.4c this morning)  I will retune again
in 3 months.  This one was #176354.
When I first seen it 2 weeks ago it had problems in the bottom octave in
that the key leads had swollen and were jamming into adjacent keys.  This
morning I filed them down so all that is OK till they swell again.  This
piano was in the ladys family a long time and she moved it up from Arkansas
to her home.  After removing the fallboard and panel in back of it the
action cavity as well as the front and underneath of the pinblock were
visible.  I removed a lot of "junk" from this area.  The tuning pins were
still nice and tight, the case was very nice.  After tuning the piano
indeed sounds worse than a Whitney spinet.  The bass simply does not match
the rest of the piano and it sounds very dissonant.  What can you expect
form such a small "cutesy" piano?
I understand that these butterfly's are getting to be collectors items form
the Art Deco arena.
James Grebe
RPT from St. Louis
pianoman@inlink.com