This is related to our post about whining and distortion in Wurlitzers too as it is usually the same issue. By far the most common is that there is debris caught between the reed and the reed bar, causing it to ground slightly. This can either sound like several things:
- Distortion on notes that varies from moderate to severe.
- Intermittent normal tone accompanied by distortio and pops.
- Cracks and bangs that are very loud.
- A white noise type sound.
- High pitched whining where the pitch oscillates up and down.
- In the worse case no sound at all.
It can be very unsettling and you might even think your Wurli has a major electrical fault if it bangs. However, whilst this can make you jump it is usually not a big problem. In all these cases the culprit is most likely a shorting of the reed bar caused by debris or a misaligned reed. Here’s how you can solve it:
Solution:
- Turn the Wurli on and confirm you hear the whining sound. With the volume low play up and down the keyboard playing each key. There is a good chance that the reed that has the debris caught around it or is misaligned will make a distorted aggressive sounding note. It may even pop or bang. This is the culprit reed. If there are not reeds like this then go to point 4.
- Turn the Wurlitzer off and strike the note and the ones around it hard. With the power back on see if the whining has gone away. If so great! If not, you will need to open up the Wurlitzer and find the offending reed.
- Disconnect power, open up the Wurlitzer and remove the hum shield. Inspect the reed where the distortion or popping is happening. Does it look misaligned? Is it very close or touching one side of the pickup? If so, using a 5/16 nut driver and a pair of tweezers, carefully adjust the reed so it is no longer misaligned.
- If there is no obvious culprit, then you are going to be hunting the offending reed down. Inspect each reed and see if its badly aligned. At this point don’t be too fussy, reeds can be close to the pickup without making bad noises, but an obvious one will stand out. Take your time.
- No luck? Ok now we are going to get more invasive. Get a vaccum cleaner and a small bellow/blowing mechanism. With the vaccum on use the blower to blast away dust and hopefully debris from the reed bar. You can blow yourself but a tool is more helpful (lol).
- Turn on the wurli again. Whining gone away? Great! If not, now we have to be more picky about the alignment of reeds. Check the reeds again. Are any too close? If so, adjust them so they are not using the advice in step 3.
- Still no luck? Ok you may need to contact us as most of the time this problem is solved. It could be debris, misaligned reeds or possibly now a deeper electronic issue. Send us a message and hopefully we can help.
