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I am in the process of totally gutting my Story and Clark and cleaning it up.

Ive got all the keys out.... And I am stuck on how to remove the hammers and such out....

Any help appreciated!!

Thanks

Brandon

There should be 3 - 4 knobs at the top of the action brackets. Remove them and gently lift the action up and away.

Hmm the knobs seem to spin but not come off.

Lemme try something in a minute. Ill use some pliers.

Op ok I got them off. Weird... Pliers work wonders! Now the time of challenge! Removing it!

Hi Brandon,

I'm an avid DIY'er too, but I'd caution you about removing your upright action. You need to remove the pedal rods/dowels too, before you pull the action. Be aware that there are risks involved. The upright action is not easy to pull out either. It is in its position very tight and you'll have to pull it out with some effort after you remove the round bracket nuts. And, once you get it out, the action does not sit upright on its frame very well on a table or the floor, and you don't want to sit it on its back.

Plus, putting it back in is a tedious chore too.

Good luck with it.

Rick

Well I got it out. All I had to do was unscrew the 4 bolts up top. Then use a philips screwdriver to unscrew the dowel from the hammer fallboard (correct term?) And the action came straight out with no issues!

Hope putting it back in will be just as easy!

Upon inspection I have concluded that the sounboard is splitting in 2 spots.

But the plate appears to have some sort of extended end like on a grand piano. (end where strings are put on, and the sound holes are visible) I dont think I have seen very many other uprights that have such a feature! Each string in the piano is attached to it. No wonder this piano is heavy! Its got one big plate!

Action appears to be good. Dampers could be replaced but I dont feel up to the task to do that.

Strings- Bad. The coper is dull. The treble strings are black except where the dampers and hammers touch. :S

Looks like I got me a project piano!

I will put up some pictures tonight or tomorrow of it!

Upon further close and flashlight handed inspection. I looked everywhere.

I unfortunately....

Very sadly....

Count a total of about 6 cracks across the soundboard.


This makes me disappointed. I thought I had something special on my hands, But rather a piano that looks good on the outside, but fails to continue the beauty on the inside mechanically.


Uh... well... Now I dont know what Im going to do to this piano. Dont want to pour money into it anymore.

What all were you planning to do to it origionally? How does it sound now? The cracks may or may not be an issue. Depends on how big, where etc. If you can post good pictures of them some of the techs may be able to give an opinion.

I was intending to fully restore as much as I could on this piano.

Like exterior refinished, New felts and pads and such. Maybe new strings in the future.

Also I dont know if I mentioned this in the above... I found a piece that is attached to the soundboard, near where the strings attach, the strings run through these to i presume stay in a spaced line

Whatever it is called, in about the mid section of the piano, it is cracked in half!

Not sure if that is bad or not but its there and definitely visible.

Here is a picture of what I am talking about-
http://www.spurlocktools.com/093fcca0.jpg

That's the treble bridge. Not a good place for cracks although my piano has plenty of surface cracks there, Before you start anything more than cleaning you should get hold of "Piano Tuning Servicing and Rebuilding" by Arthur Reblitz and read it to make sure you really want to get into a project like this. It can be rewarding but there are some days I wish I could be using the time I spend learning to fix my piano for learning to play my piano.

Here are some pictures of the interior with the action removed.

You can go here to see more pictures of the piano

http://s471.photobucket.com/home/Brandon_W_T

Thanks! I will look into that. Of course If I restore this piano that means I would need to buy a new piano to use to practice. (new meaning old!)

I wish I had the space to do that! For now I've been working on the ends so that by the time I get to the middle I'll be good enough at it to be quick too.

Well since I am taking piano lessons currently its kinda important to have a practice instrument! It may be weeks or months to restore such a piano like this.... And breaks to gather up the $$$ and such!