Question on tuning Wurlitzer 200.

[mcgoo]

I just had a really strange thing happen with my Wurlitzer 200. I"m wondering if anyone can shed some lightâ¦

 

Normally it sits in my studio. It gets played often, but not for hours on end, just as needed. I had decided to use it for our church"s annual Christmas concert yesterday, so I moved it, set it up and started rehearsing on Saturday. Everything was fine for the first few hours. Then all of a sudden, the D above Middle C went out of tune... about a quarter tone flat. After rehearsal, I found a Vintage Vibe video on how to make minor tuning adjustments by moving the reed forwards / backwards and opened it up to try to tune it. There wasn"t enough play for me to raise the pitch back up. I had never filed or added solder to a reed myself & didn"t feel confident trying to do so. Amazingly at 5:30 pm on a Saturday, I got hold of a piano technician that used to work on these 'back in the day' that still had some parts & was willing to work on it that night. She was able to file the reed down to get the pitch up and back in tune. I played it for a while. Sounded great. Paid her and went my merry way. Yesterday morning, I set it back up, had a run through rehearsal before the Christmas concert and after about 30 minutes, it did the same thingâ¦. Same note suddenly fell flat!

 

Is there anything that would cause a reed to suddenly fall out of tune like that? It wasn"t a progressive, slow decline, it was a sudden 'holy crap, that"s out of tune!'. Thanks for any help.

 

greg

[analogika]

The reed is dying.

 

I had two adjacent reeds do the same thing within a fairly short time about a year ago. Tuning them would last a little while, and then they'd go off again.

 

Replaced them, minor retune after a year (couple cents off), and all is well.

[tnelson]

Your tech probably checked this, but small tuning shifts can occur if a reed moves forward (flat) or backwards (sharp) beneath the screw that secures it in position. Is it possible that the screw is not tight enough on that reed that is a repeat offender?

[drawback]

Sounds like a crack in the actual reed. It will break soon. Time to order some new ones, especially those that fall under your thumbs. I used to break a lot of middle A"s.

[mate stubb]

Yep, reed is dying.

[mcgoo]

Ok, thanks all. Vintage Vibe has reeds on their site, so I'll order one (after I check to make sure mine hadn't just come loose!). They offer them "pre-tuned" for an upcharge. I'll go that way, assuming the only adjusting I'll need to do is nudging it forward or back some... the whole file / solder thing makes me a bit squeamish!

 

The bummer is that I had arranged all the music around me playing only the Wurlie. It sounded wonderful through the PA and I was in Heaven! Once the tuning thing happened the 2nd time, I had to cry uncle, and replace it with the church's RD-800. Its Wurlie imitation isn't awful, but there ain't nothin' like the real thing! :-(

 

thanks again,

 

greg

[drawback]

Not to throw you off, but back in the years when I used a 140B on every gig, I probably broke a half dozen reeds on stage. It's one thing to have a note suddenly go out of tune, but when they break under hammer impact the solder tips would inevitably land on the pickup bar, causing a short that sounded like a minor explosion when amplified. I've been a faux-Wurlitzer player ever since.

[Tom Williams]

Wow, this brings back memories of my old flat topped beige Wurly (102 maybe?) I had in the 80s: dabbing solder on and then filing it off to tune the reed, mis-aligning a reed by .2mm and triggering the explosion sound, replacing metal-fatigued reeds, and thanking God when I finally got an Ensoniq Mirage. Analogous to Drawback, I never bought another electro-mechanical keyboard, and I certainly never missed 'em.

 

My first thought when the OP mentioned taking it out for a performance was "Nooooooooooo!" :-)

[mcgoo]

My first thought when the OP mentioned taking it out for a performance was "Nooooooooooo!" :-)

 

Lol. I've gigged her many times over the years, and yes, I'm all too familiar with the explosion. About 5 years ago I had a handful of notes tuned up and about 3-4 years ago I put in a Warneck preamp. It had been trouble free and a complete joy to play up until this past weekend.

 

Pre-tuned reed is on its way. She'll be back and ready for service soon.... But I'm in no hurry to take her out to gig again...

[zxcvbnm098]

I must have been lucky over the years! I had two periods of a decent amount of gigging with the two different 200A's, and never once did I encounter problems other than minor tuning.

 

if I had one today ( and I am looking for now now), I'd still try to take it out, although I'd make sure the Nord NE5d would be available for backup... I so love the action on Wurlies....nothing like 'em.

[drawback]

By the time I got my 140B it was probably in service for 7 or 8 years from manufacture, and I rode it pretty hard. I'm just guessing, but those with the 200's may have been a bit newer when you got them? Or perhaps higher quality action and felts from the factory by then.

[zxcvbnm098]

By the time I got my 140B it was probably in service for 7 or 8 years from manufacture, and I rode it pretty hard. I'm just guessing, but those with the 200's may have been a bit newer when you got them? Or perhaps higher quality action and felts from the factory by then.

 

That's probably a good point; the one I used in high school in the late 70's would have been only 8-10 years old at the time . Even in the early-mid 90's with my other, it was likely 25 years old (it was a 200, not 200A now that I remember). Not new, but certainly not 50 years old as it would be now (Shelby Lynne has that one). Heck, even if you got the very last one off the line that was manufactured, it would be coming up on 40 years old.

[Doerfler]

I so love the action on Wurlies....nothing like 'em.

 

I am currently on my 3rd one, a 200. Had this one for about 8 years now. I mentioned to Markyboard a few months ago that if I could only keep 2 keyboards, the Wurlitzer will be one of them.

[mcgoo]

...if I could only keep 2 keyboards, the Wurlitzer will be one of them.

 

This. My Multimoog or a Hammond would likely be the other. Modern day ROMplers are good utilities, but they don't bring the fire for me in the same way.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

I've also been lucky with my 200. I gigged it pretty heavily for the five years between acquiring it and the pandemic, and I only had a reed go on me once.

 

Of course, when it did, it was in the middle of a run of several big gigs in a short span (I was lucky my tech likes me). It started to go during the first of two sets on July 4th... I remember we were covering Young Americans by Bowie, and the reed that was starting to go was the C above middle C... most of the piano part on that song involves hammering that octave while moving inner voicings, so that was SOUR!

[Rofox]

Sorry for being late to the party and a bit of a ramble follows>

Back in the 70's whilst heavily using a Wurli I quickly learned that once a reed starts going flat it's pointless trying to retune it. It must be replaced and so I kept a lot of reeds in stock ready to be fitted at short notice, usually the morning after the gig.

Any serious user will quickly become adept at changing and tuning a reed.

Fifteen years ago I gave my Wurli EP200 to my daughter for her 21st as it was the instrument she learnt on. I still have a stock of reeds should they be needed.

As a side note I bought that Wurli 50 years ago (shudder) ex Average White Band, anyone remember them? It was a bit of a wreck and I spent ages learning how to adjust the action and rotated the transformer to minimise hum. I also fabricated a replacement for the missing sustain pedal. After a couple of years I decided this old,beat up keyboard should be replaced with a brand new 200A. After negotiations at Rockbottom in Croydon an agreement was reached for a brand new Wurlitzer EP in exchange for 400 fine British pounds. My delight on collection was almost beyond ecstasy and I resolved to use it on the next gig, (I remember it was the "Golden Gloves in Fulham Palace Road SW London) My expectations were dashed! The 200A sounded thin and gutless. Immediately after the the gig it was advertised as "Brand new, unboxed and fully tested"....and sold for more than I paid including the home made pedal, (I retained the new one and the bench).

The original 200, which I fortunately still had, sounded so much fuller, richer and organic,possibly due to distortion but I loved the bark and bite. A Wurli is probably impractical now as a gigable machine but I'm so glad mine is still in the family if I really need it (I still play on it every fortnight).

It was part of my rig for about ten years, indeed for four years it was just the Wurli and a drum box working the pubs and wine bars of Kings Road, Chelsea. The rig was later supplemented with a clavi (which I still have) and Logan string melody. Happy days because I got more pleasure and punter response from that pre midi 45 year old set up than any subsequent rig.

Apologies for rambling on but you will have guessed that I love and know the instrument. If you want to gig with it I fully understand why. It comes to life under your fingers but you must learn how to maintain the unique instrument you have.

[Joe Muscara]

As a side note I bought that Wurli 50 years ago (shudder) ex Average White Band, anyone remember them?

There's a least one guy here that's familiar with that group, I think.

[mcgoo]

Got the new (pre-tuned) reed from Vintage Vibe. Got it installed and all appears well. Interestingly though, on my little tuner it showed to be a few cents flat. I tried moving it and couldn't quite get it up to pitch. To my ears, it's fine. Octaves and fifths sound clean and it sounds the way I'd expect in regular playing, so I'm not worried about it, but I did find that curious...

[Tom Williams]

Got the new (pre-tuned) reed from Vintage Vibe. Got it installed and all appears well. Interestingly though, on my little tuner it showed to be a few cents flat. I tried moving it and couldn't quite get it up to pitch. To my ears, it's fine. Octaves and fifths sound clean and it sounds the way I'd expect in regular playing, so I'm not worried about it, but I did find that curious...

Even tiny variations in placement and bolt tightness are sufficient to throw Wurlitzer reeds off by a quarter tone as I recall. If there's solder on the wiggly end of the reed, I would recommend using a small abrasive (emery board or fine grit sandpaper) to reduce its mass by a smidgen.