Hello.

I was wondering if anyone has has experience rebuilding a Wurlitzer Student Butterfly Grand before. If you're not sure what it is, I have a picture listed here....http://www.thecomputergarden.com/toygrand.jpg

I am trying to find parts or other pianos like this one so I know how to go about getting it back to its original condition.

For those of you who don't know what it is...it is a fully working "small" grand piano. 44 Keys, action, pinblock etc. I got it off of Ebay for about $200 and thought at first, wow! What a novelity piece..but further research showed I really landed a goldmine here. I don't want to sell it, but rather rebuild it.

I appreciate any assistace you can offer and I look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks.

IANA piano tech, just stopped by to fix your link.

http://www.thecomputergarden.com/toygrand.jpg

That IS a cutie! When you say "fully working", what do you mean exactly? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 meaning, "Well, at least it plays", and 10 meaning, "All it needs is a little cleaning and a good tuning", how is it?

What exactly needs to be done to it?

Go to http://www.ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech/

and type in Butterfly or Butterfly grand

Hello Mathilde and Brian.

Thanks both of you for replying. Brian- I did go to that site and did find some useful information. Thank you very much!

Mathilde - well...fully functional meaning (in my lamens terms) not a toy/bell sounding piano. It has an action, pinblock and in all senses of the word is a real piano. But, you can see from the picture that it is small. All the keys did play (and suprisingly kept in pretty good tune considering the shipment and the years)!

I have already removed all the strings, pinblock, action and am in the process of stripping off the lovely coat of chip-white (and other) paints. I am putting on new keycovers, and all new felts. So, basically a complete restoration. Another person was kind enough to guide me in the direction of where to get the decals for the piano as well and he too has a butterfly student that he is also rebuilding with a nice veneer of mahogany.

I'll send you pictures of the completed work, if you like!

Thanks again for your replies.

Sincerely,

Debbie