Dead Keys On A Piano

[BigBubbaBrown]

About two years back a family friend gave me an old piano. I don't know exactly how old, but there's a price tag from when it was in a flea market dated in the 1920's.

It's an old player piano and it's been gutted out except for what you'd expect to find in a standard upright, but there are two dead keys. I've never encountered anything like this in my tuning business so I don't know what could be causing it.

I've put up with it because I can fill the notes in with my mind, but lately I've been thinking I'd like to record with it. I've checked the strings from top to bottom, other than what I'd have to remove all of the hammers to see, and I can't find any obstructions. I've felt around in the areas I can't see and didn't feel anything and the keys work as expected (the dampers move out of the way and the hammers strike). The only sound those notes make is just a plinking noise, though. Sort of like when you pluck a guitar string right next to the tuning pegs.

[john]

where are the dead notes? Is it a two or three pedal piano? If you could upload some pics of the piano strings and hammer action in question it would help. I'm guessing you can take off the full front top and the bottom panel just above the pedals. Perhaps a pic from below looking up at the hammers and another from above looking down. Nice and brightly lit I'm guessing you are quite capable of checking the lower and upper part of the strings

have you identified what kind of piano action it is? There are several.

I take it that it does this whether the casement panels are off or on?

Does it make the same noise if you improvise a hammer and tap the strings gently?

What about if you manually triggered the damper and did the same?

have you checked the bridge for those mounts? unlikely that your upright has agraffes but it is not completely unknown. I suspect that if not obvious (and even then) that it may need to be repaired by an experienced repairer as it may require removing strings never mind keys.

From what you have described thus far it definitely sounds like obstruction of some kind or damage to the bridge or bridge seating for those strings, but if you are comfortable with a few basic diagnostics you can perhaps correct something fairly simple, for example a small animal stuck in the strings lol

[BigBubbaBrown]

The improvised hammer and manually pulling the damper back yielded the same result.

I'll check the things you mentioned and try to get some pictures. This will give me a pretty good opportunity because so far the only repairs I've had to make have been changing broken strings, fixing sticking keys, and small stuff like that. I'm always worried a client will have a problem that I won't even be able to begin to diagnose, let alone fix.

The problem is getting this one apart. I've taken apart several pianos and they were so easy they might as well have been made out of Lincoln logs. I've looked that thing over from top to bottom and can't find a single bolt or screw. I'm not sure how those panels are held on there.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to pull a mummified chipmunk or rat out of there. It spent a few years on a back porch covered over with a tarp.

[bogert]

LOLZ...!!!you are having an old Piano.

I must suggest you to buy a new one.

[Retrosaurus Rex]

Too expensive.

[DonniexSmith]

A friend of mine does piano restorations at a place in new york. They fix these type of issues all the time. I'm sur ethey could help you out if your at a stand-still with your piano. hope this helps!