#1936 WURLITZER SPINET PIANO HOW TO#
#1936 WURLITZER SPINET PIANO FULL#
#1936 WURLITZER SPINET PIANO PLUS#

In reality, though, it was not nearly as bad as that. And that's JUST describing deficiencies in the tone, scale design, etc, and I won't even begin to attempt to describe what I would have expected on the cabinet, accessibility for service, durability (let's just say that even after just sitting in a climate controlled room for one day longer than the manufacturer's warranty would result in the piano literally physically disintegrating so badly that even the raw materials that went into making the piano would no longer be recognizable for what they once were, for example), etc. and this formulated opinion was based on some things I had read about the pianos, for example to quote Larry Fine they were 'quite possibly the worst spinets ever made'.

#1936 WURLITZER SPINET PIANO PLUS#

and in the bass I had been expecting it to sound absolutely horrible - bad enough so that if it had been a new piano that had been prepped to the hilt, it still would have been so bad it would make even a totally dead Wurly or Acro sound like Adrian Mann's Alexander piano in comparison - for example, have an A0 speaking length of 18', ~1/8 to 1/4' sustain at A0, a backscale length of 1/4', that end of the bass bridge mounted about 1/2' from the edge of the soundboard panel and at least the lower 2.5 to 3.25 octaves of the bridge mounted on the wrong side of the cutoff bar, C4 on the bass bridge, plus another octave and a third or so of wound strings above the break, such severely foreshortened first several plain trichords that there was only a ~5% difference in speaking length between the first plain trichord and one an octave and a half higher, etc. I was expecting a very uneven touch (one key might feel lighter than an unweighted electronic piano keyboard, the next might be so heavy it almost felt like you had to run over it with a tank to get it to go down) and an uneven horrible tone - for example one note might have a hammer so soft it sounded like it was run through a lowpass filter so low that only a 30dB suppressed fundamental came through, the next might make a typical 1950s school Baldwin Hamilton seem as mellow as the note I just previously described. Not nearly as good as a Wurly or Acro, but not half bad. It actually played and sounded halfway decent. Going toward the low end, I was shocked the first time I played one at how good a Kincaid spinet was (another name used on the 'Grand' spinets, according to Larry Fine) that I'm guessing was probably from the 1970s or so, give or take a decade.

The only similar age spinet I've ever seen that was possibly better (and not by much) was a Baldwin Acrosonic. I have a friend with a ~1955 Wurlitzer spinet that has a better tone & action, and is overall in better condition, than ANY spinet I've seen from that era. So, take what you can when you can and never feel it is beneath you to work on Wurlitzers, Kimballs, Acrosonics, Cable Nelson, Everett and many others (even Betsy Ro$$ $pinet$). There may, in fact be more of that kind of work available in these stressed economic times than there is for high level rebuilding.

It is money in your pocket and both you and the customer will be benefactors. You will do competent work and make the piano perform as intended.įor that reason, I like to spell Spinet like this: $pinet Don't fall for it it is good, honest work and the expectations the customer has are not what the owner of a very expensive piano may have. They like to build themselves up to put you down. I still do such repairs and do them gladly as opposed to what I have seen often on lists like this and Pianotech by the 'I only do Steinways' type guys.

#1936 WURLITZER SPINET PIANO HOW TO#

You know what to do and how to do it the customer does not. This is an effective and ethical way to solve a problem that would otherwise mean the instrument is useless. Some may need CA glue treatment for the pinblock.

#1936 WURLITZER SPINET PIANO FULL#

It can mean a full day's work and you can charge as much or more as you would for 4 tunings at your full price plus mark up the cost of grommets or any other supplies and make further profit. These are all very basic services and provide good experience for any technician who needs that kind of experience. Some models of 60's and 70's vintage will need new grommets and their actions deserve to be removed, screws tightened, hammers filed and aligned and basic regulation such as key level touch up, correction of dip if necessary, grommet adjustment and let off be performed. (Would you have eaten that olive in your salad anyway?). They left out what was not essential to keep the price down. That is why I avoided the word, 'cheap' but said 'lowest cost' instead. Many of those that were really no good have already been discarded. Some did have some fairly sloppy workmanship but most are sturdy pianos that will last a lifetime. They and Kimballs are not necessarily as bad of pianos as many technicians like to say they are.

1936 wurlitzer spinet piano