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oh hello

04 Jan 2009

Remember me? What news? Sedate new year, followed by some fun times with new and old friends.

I got a new (to me) piano. Well, technically it’s a spinet. It’s an old ’30s-era (I think) Wurlitzer:

piano1

It’s terribly out of tune right now, and many of the keys are sticking, due in no small part to a few jostles while moving it. Tuning may be beyond me, but I wonder what typically causes keys to “stick”. Anyone know? Is it something I can repair myself? While answering, don’t underestimate my uncanny willingness and ability to obsessively and compulsively learn something for the sake of taking something apart and fixing it.

I just ordered some music, as well.. a book of Joplin rags that I’ve wanted to learn forever, including Bethena, which is one of my favorite (and perhaps one of the saddest) songs ever. I went to go see the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and was pleased to find it (Bethena) put to good use in that movie. Joplin wrote it a few months after his wife died. It’s sad.

Happy New Year!

Comments

monstermash40 — January 05, 2009 at 11:59 · reply

Around my house, sticky keys would be cause by kool aid.

stephy — January 05, 2009 at 13:38 · reply

You can see the Wurlitzer name on the very front, right underneath the music holder… it’s probably some sort of foil letters that have darkened over time, but if you look really hard, you can definitely read Wurlitzer :-)

bob mcbob boberton III — January 05, 2009 at 19:11 · reply

Keys can stick for a variety of reasons. The actions in these things are absurdly complex, and most likely it’s just that one piece or another is slightly out of alignment, or has swelled a little, or something. Fiddling with it might free it up. There are ALSO little scraps of cloth and leather, which may have busted, in which case some replacement will be required. It’s certainly not impossible to tune these things, and to repair/recondition/otherwise resurrect the action. My advice is to proceed with caution. Especially do not get tempted to squirt in lubricants or anything. I’m fairly sure that sort of thing is 100 percent guaranteed to make things worse.

Chris Hatfield — January 26, 2009 at 07:28 · reply

It really might be worth it to have a professional piano tuner come take a look at it. Tuning is cheap and there are bound to still be plenty of people around Nashville who do that sort of thing. Then he or she can probably give you some insight into what else you’d need to do to get it up and running.

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