old Weaver

[Susan Kline]

Dear Dick,

I've worked on several of these, including one where the arms were
breaking. (They are called "Weaver Rocker Arms", by the way, and they are
still available from at least one supply house.)

I'm afraid what you have here is just an old weird piano. At least, I've
never heard of any great value they carried. 

The ones I worked on were not particularly sluggish. It may be that yours
is sluggish more from being in Louisiana than from its design. Don't be
tempted to spray it with WD-40 to speed it up! That may already have been
done, which may be why it's having trouble now. Repinning may help, though
it's a lot to invest. However, the rocker arm style does make the action
easy to remove. If it doesn't already have a dampp-chaser, it might be a
good idea to install one.

Good luck.

Susan Kline

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At 07:12 AM 5/13/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Some time ago I purchased an old 1939 York spinet made by The Weaver
>Piano Co.  It is not a drop action, but attached to the back of the key
>is  " I call it a J- hook that goes up under the whippen. This J is how
>you adjust the lost motion. Also when tthe piano is closed up it looks
>kind of like a dining table, one guy said they were called coffin pianos.
>I talked to the men in our chapter & none of them had ever see one as far
>as they could remember. Also the pedals on it is a lyre system sort of
>like a grand & not like a verticle piano.
>If anyone out there knows any thing about or has seen one of these pianos
>please let me know. Is it a rare & valuable old piano , or just an old
>weird piano?
>Also because of the big j shaped hooks attached to the keys , the action
>is quite sluggish.
>Thanks for any info.
>Dick Powell--------Louisiana
>
>_____________________________________________________________________