Wurlitzer Broken Damper Springs

[Brian Trout]

Hello Tom,

You mentioned a former tenant affectionately named "rodentus miscecus".  I'm
assuming you mean they had mice?  Sorry, I'm not up on my Latin.  ;-)

I've seen a few pianos where the mice had done damage to wooden parts such
as the keysticks, and chewed bridal straps, etc.  Most of us are familiar
with that.

But another thing that sometimes shows up is the results of their urination.
I had a Steinway 1098 a year or so back where the mice had 'peed' all over
the hammer return springs.  Why?  Who knows.  But I found about a dozen or
so of them had basically disintegrated in the middle of the spring, where
they were 'peed' upon.  Many more were ready to break.  I ended up replacing
the whole set.  The reason I mention it is, in part, because it's not
something that's necessarily evident without some pretty careful inspection.

Just something else to look out for.

As for the dampers not lifting very far, is it just that the pelican spring
is bending too far?  Or is the bottom board flexing a lot?  Some of these
things can be a real frustration to try to fix 'cause they weren't right
from new!  Sometimes a new spring can help.  Sometimes a small object under
the piano can help if there's too much flex...an old romance novel comes to
mind...(won't dent the floor..., and usually available in a variety of
thicknesses...).   If you have to pull the action at some point, it might be
worth checking to see if there are problems where the damper lift rod is
attached, whether there might be some loose screws...?

Don't you just "love" spinets???

Good luck,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net