Wurlitzer 200-series reed screw
These original Wurlitzer 200-series reed screws include the screw and captive washer. They will work in your 200 series (including all 200A) as well as 140 series (140, 145, 720…).
If you have questions about this product or would like advice prior to purchasing, please feel free to reach out to us.
These original Wurlitzer 200-series reed screws include the screw and captive washer. They will work in your 200 series (including all 200A) as well as 140 series (140, 145, 720…).
If you have questions about this product or would like advice prior to purchasing, please feel free to reach out to us.
These original Wurlitzer reed screws can be used in 140- and 200-series Wurlitzers, including 140a/140b, 200/200a, 203, 206, etc.
These are original Wurlitzer 200- and 140-series reed screws, which were made to exacting specifications by the Wurlitzer Co. Because these screws fasten the reed to the harp, they are extremely important to the tone and functionality of your keyboard. The tightness of the screw affects the intonation of the reed, so the screws themselves must be uniform and reliable. If the reed screws are prone to breaking or loosening at random, your keyboard will be out of tune. For that reason, Wurlitzer devoted a lot of energy to maintaining good quality control of their reed screws.
Why would you need new reed screws? For two reasons. First, if precise intonation is important to you, you will probably want a handful of backup reed screws just in case one breaks. Tuning a Wurlitzer requires screwing and unscrewing the reed screws—and while these screws are robust, they aren’t indestructible. The more you tune, the more likely you are to break one. If the Wurlitzer Co. was still around to crank out reed screws by the thousands, this wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, we have a finite supply of original reed screws. Anyone with critical recording and performing needs may want a small stash of reed screws in the event that they become scarce.
Second, for a brief period in the 1960s, Wurlitzer electronic pianos were manufactured with faulty reed screws. This period encompasses most 140a/145a keyboards (not 140 or 140b, or 200-series—just the “a” model keyboards. A full discussion of various 140-series keyboards can be found here.). On these keyboards, the washers crack, and for that reason the reeds won’t stay in pitch. If your keyboard has this problem, it will be visually obvious. Some of the washers will be cracked, and they will crack even more when they are unscrewed or tightened.
If you have a 140a with this issue, you’ll have to replace every reed screw. This is, truthfully, a time-consuming process since it also requires touching up the tuning of each reed once the new screws are installed. However, once that is complete, the 140a is a great-sounding and highly playable keyboard, equivalent to a 140b.
Wurlitzer evidently became aware of the cracked reed screw problem only after many 140a keyboards had been completed and shipped out. Once they fixed it, however, they exercised much better quality control, and later reed screws are solid and functional. The reed screws in this listing are original 200-style reed screws, manufactured after the 140a screw problem.