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I have to pull an Acrosonic action to replace a broken string. This model has the wooden locator rail for the sticker rods. From what I have read in doing my research on this task, I am not looking forward to it. I'm looking for any ideas/suggestions that anyone has to make this go as smooth as possible.
Thanks
Kim

Some time ago, I copied the instructions for removing these actions in a post, but I am not certain where it is. You can do a search for it. Basically, you have to tie the end stickers to the rail that the ends of them go through to hold all the stickers to that rail before removing it.

Bill Bremmer made a post about Lucas Brookings refurbishing an acrosonic and there were detailed pics there. I believe that's the post BDB mentions.

IfF

I have tried searching for these instructions, but have not found anything relating to removing the action. I have a plan of attack ready but I was just looking for any suggestions that will make this go as smooth as possible. One question I have is regarding the wooden rail. Is it better to detach it from it't bracket or to detach the entire bracket?
Thanks

Educating Lucas is the thread, and the Acrosonic action regulation descriptions begin around page 9

link next post

sorry, here is the link

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2277261/9.html


previously posted link (now deleted) led you to acrimony. (but even there you would have found wisdom)

Forrest

Kim,

Those appear to be nice instructions. An alternate to the rubber band mentioned to secure the rail:

If you have some old upright damper blocks lying around, or some grand underlever posts, pull out three or four of the metal bushings with the screws. (Schaff part # 1026B)
https://istore.schaffpiano.com/istore/product/1026B

Pull up a sticker up through the guide rail as far as it will go, so plenty of guide wire is poking through the top side, place the damper bushing over the guide wire, and tighten it down. You'll notice when you let the sticker go, that the sticker won't fall through the rail any more, and the hammer won't come to rest. Place one of these bushings on a sticker in the treble, one in the bass, and one in the midspan. That rail will NOT fall off if you tighten the bushings down nicely.

I love this trick.

Hope this helps.

I think rather than linking to a page, you should try linking to a specific post. For me, page 9 starts with a post saying black holes don't exist, and page 10 ends with casinitaly locking the thread due to it straying far off topic and people bickering at one another.

I'm looking through the thread trying to find the specific post, but if someone can find and post it faster than I could, it'd be much appreciated.

And I don't know how you all can stand leaving the posts per page set at the default 10 or whatever posts per page. I can't stand clicking next page every 0.5 seconds or so it seems. I think I have mine set at like 40 or 50 right now, which is still much less than I'd like. I'd set it at 100 or 250 or 500 or whatever the max is cause my PC (32 GB RAM, Windows 10, 12.25 TB of HDD capacity, Intel i7-4790K CPU) can handle it just fine, but my 2+ year old cell phone wouldn't, so I compromise. Ideally I'd like to be able to set it to, for example, 25 posts per page on my phone, and show all posts on one page on my PC (or maybe 1000 posts per page for really long threads).

Edit: okay this wasn't the post I was looking for, but I stumbled across this one about splicing bass strings...

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2282993.html#Post2282993

...and it reminded me of a couple times I've had splices done in the bass of my old Ricca & Son piano, which I no longer have. I remember splices being done in the speaking length of bass strings, possibly even A0. I wonder if anyone has spliced A0 in a spinet (or a grand shorter than 140cm) in the speaking length successfully? And, if the core wire breaks in the middle of the winding, if you peel back the winding in that area would it be possible to splice there? Obviously you'd prefer to replace the string on a > $200k piano, but for a cheap piano (one that would have been tier 2 or lower in Fine's ratings, or sold for less than $10k new in 2015 US$) could a mid-winding splice work sometimes?

Found the Acrosonic reconditioning post...

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2301908.html#Post2301908

sorry, the search feature led me astray.

here,s the link (at this point, I'm not sure)???

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2277261/25.html

halfway down... at any rate, the post was dated 7/14/2014

Forrest, that links me to page 10, not page 25. Page 10 is the last page on the thread at my end. Rather than linking to a page, could you link the post itself? Is the one I linked in my above post the right one?

you are correct. The material I was trying to link to is exactly the other material.

I'm not sure what I did wrong, but it was something!

Forrest,
The first link you posted took me right to the spot I needed and it was very helpful. I appreciate the help.

Chris,
Thank you for your suggestion about the damper blocks. I had read about that technique somewhere in my research for this project, however I do not have any laying around and won't be able to get some before I do the job.

Thanks again for the help.
Kim

+1
It's neat and secure and saves time fussing with string or rubber bands.

Just use the damper heads from the notes at the bass tenor cross-over. This gives you the added advantage of not tearing them off against the action bolt when trying to pull the action out! It's always nice when the piano itself gives you the tool you need.

Hey, I am not going to even try to find out which posts are right or not. All you have to do is unscrew all the screws which hold the action rail in place and then it will drop down. You could tie it up with string but that would be rather inflexible and may come undone. The idea about the rubber bands is that the are actually flexible and they won't come undone until you remove them. The whole idea is to keep the guide rail attached to the "stickers" (sometimes called "abstracts").

If the guide rail comes loose from the stickers, you are in for some real problems getting the two back together. You will need an assistant and you will waste a lot of time. Rubber bands of any kind are the best solution. You don't need to attach all of the the stickers, only the ends of each section.

Actually attaching a loose pick-up finger guide rail is not as bad as you might think. The key is to put the action on the edge of a workbench or countertop and let them all hang straight down. Starting on one end you start putting the fingers in the guide rail and work your way to the other end.

Without a doubt, the rubber band method of securing the abstract guide rail is the easiest and most efficient. It is not really necessary to secure all of the abstracts with the long rubber bands that we purchased at an office supply store. If you can find any good rubber bands around your home, just secure those nearest the ends of each section. As we did all of them, however, the photos show that lifting out the action then is as easy as any direct blow console action would be. A greater number of shorter rubber bands could also be used.

The problem with using string to try to tie everything up is that the strings may easily come loose when handling the action outside of the piano. If that happens, getting the rail back on to all of the abstracts may be nearly impossible. You will have to have someone help you. While I appreciate the idea of using a damper block to secure the end abstracts, the possibility of any one of them coming loose is even more than with string. You will have all of the rest of the abstracts dangling as you handle the action.

The rubber bands can secure all abstracts and they will be flexible while the action is handled and moved about for various services such as tightening flange screws, filing hammers and blowing the dust out of the action. Once the action is back in the piano, the rubber bands are then removed at the rail can be screwed back into position, never allowing a single abstract to slip from it.

'Never tried that, but it sounds like a good idea.

I still need a picture of how the free rod is kept attached to the stickers and and guiding rail IN ONE PIECE while removing it. I tried today and the entire contraption came apart. A picture of the solution would help!!