A guide to wurlitzer and rhodes mechanical action

Wurlitzer and Rhodes electronic pianos were originally designed as portable versions of “real” (acoustic) pianos. (That’s why they were both discontinued in the 1980s—technology had made it easier and cheaper to produce a more accurate faux-piano sound. The fact that Wurlitzer and Rhodes both sound very cool in their own right was a completely unintended part of their original design.)

Anyway, Wurlitzer and Rhodes both have a lot of piano-inspired action parts inside. One often-unappreciated difference between a piano and a keyboard is that, while many keyboards are designed to be basically disposable, pianos are built to be repaired. Most (if not all) of the moving parts of a piano are cushioned with some sort of felt, which serves a number of purposes—one of which is to wear out. (It's a lot easier to replace a worn-out piece of felt than it is to replace a wooden action part, or an entire piano.) Piano felt is attached with special glues that can be dissolved using heat or chemicals, so you can take the old felt off and glue new felt on, again and again, without damaging whatever part the felt is mounted on.

Wurlitzer electronic pianos were designed under the same principles of repair. (And so were Rhodes, although to somewhat of a lesser extent. Fender executives repeatedly sacrificed piano feel in favor of reduced production costs.) So, in every Wurlitzer, there are hundreds of neglected felt parts—and, if they’re replaced, the piano has the potential to play like it did when it was new.

These felt parts are found deep inside the keyboard, and they are pretty obscure to anyone who isn’t a piano technician. Whenever we email a repair estimate to a client, we include a glossary of parts that we would like to replace. It makes the email really long, and we’re never sure whether the client appreciates the info or thinks it’s TMI. So, instead, we are creating a guide to mechanical parts on this page. It is a work in progress. If you have a question about a part but don’t see it here (yet), get in touch with us and we’re happy to discuss.