fixing broken toy piano

[Rebecca]

Hi

I just purchased a toy piano on ebay. It is a Symphony. Unfortunately
some small (yet extremely important) piece is missing from the inside
of the piano. My best guess is it is some sort of mallet that would
connect the keys to the chimes. I have been searching online to find
out what this piece could be or look like but coming up empty. I was
wondering if anyone knows how to fix toy pianos. Or better yet has a
photo of the inside of a toy piano. I can make whatever part is
missing. I have photographs is anyone is interested in taking a look.

I am really excited to start playing.

Thanks!
Rebecca

[JeanDavid]

I never heard of Symphony toy pianos. I did find two on eBay.
I hope yours is the 37-key model.

The only toy pianos I have seen the insides of are my Schoenhut 379M.
If you go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTKuU3I0H5s

You can see Phyllis Chen's slightly modified toy piano. A piece of
wood
has been removed from her piano, allowing you to see the music rods.
On a toy piano like this, there is a little hammer that is connected
to each key;
one hammer for each key.

On Schoenhut toy pianos, if you take out the assembly with the metal
tone rods,
you can gain access to the hammer assembly. If you turn the hammer
assembly
upside down (I am just describing, do not do this), all the hammers
will fall out, and
they can be a pain to replace because they are not all the same. You
may be lucky
and someone turned yours upside down during shipping. If that is the
case you may
be able to jiggle the keys back into position by gently shaking the
piano itself. Otherwise
you may have to disassemble it a bit and put the keys back in.

Can you describe your problem in more detail? Is your piano acoustic,
or electronic?
I hope it is acoustic. If it plugs in, it is probably electronic. Does
only one key not work,
or do none of them work?

I am not a toy piano fixer, but they are very simple, so some handy
person could
probably fix one if they are both thoughtful and careful. I do not
know how interchangable
parts would be from one brand to another, but since they are almost
all made in China
these days, it is just possible you could get what you need from
Schoenhut. They might
be able to help you with advice.

Renee Trinca is the president of Schoenhut and is on Facebook. You
might send her a
message and see if she can get you the help you need. Schoenhut is a
very friendly
company.

[Rebecca Salerno]

Hi

Thank you so much for writing me back and so quickly too! I have attached some photos of my piano and the inside. I think the hammers are exactly what is missing. There is nothing inside that connects the keys (when you press them down) to hitting the tone rods. I will also contact Renee Trinca about this. Let me know if you have any ideas of what I could make to replace whatever is missing. 

Thank you again for all your help!

rebecca

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[JeanDavid]

On Aug 19, 10:30 am, Rebecca Salerno <carbo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi
> Thank you so much for writing me back and so quickly too! I have attached
> some photos of my piano and the inside. I think the hammers are exactly what
> is missing. There is nothing inside that connects the keys (when you press
> them down) to hitting the tone rods. I will also contact Renee Trinca about
> this. Let me know if you have any ideas of what I could make to replace
> whatever is missing.
>
> Thank you again for all your help!
>
> rebecca
>

>

>  piano6.jpg
> 446KViewDownload
>
>  piano5.jpg
> 530KViewDownload
>
>  piano4.jpg
> 408KViewDownload
>
>  piano3.jpg
> 383KViewDownload
>
>  piano1.jpg
> 430KViewDownload

Those pictures are a big help.
If you look at the left side of piano3.jpg, you will see some thin
wood sticking up from the end of the keys. I imagine this is supposed
to hit the tone bars.
Examining piano1.jpg, it is clear that these cannot reach the tone
bars. So the question for me would be, is the tone bar assembly in
there upside down so those wood strips cannot reach them? Or is there
something missing that connects the strip to the tone bars?
Unfortunately, it looks to me from piano5.jpg that the tone bar
assembly is in the correct position.

So it would require some one really experienced in restoration of this
thing to get it working again.
A serious collector might be interested in having this for his or her
collection. They might know how to get it fixed.

Since it has only a few notes and no black keys, its musical
possibilities are extremely limited.
Toy pianos are actually used by very qualified pianists in public
performances. Margaret Leng Tan and Phyllis Chen are leaders in this
new field. I have heard M.L.T. perform in Carnegie Hall, for example.
She has a Ph.D. from Juilliard.

If you are actually interested in making music with one of these, you
might consider getting a new 37-key model, such as a Schoenhut 379
(grand piano style)

http://www.toypiano.com/product_information.asp?html_model_number=379M

or 6637 (upright style)

http://www.toypiano.com/product_information.asp?html_model_number=6637B

The last I heard, about a year ago, these cost between $200 and $300
new. I do not know what eBay would want for them. When I was in the
market, I just bought a new one from Renee Trinca at Schoenhut.

Chris Allert, whose site this is, has a lot of experience getting toy
pianos at low cost. He might be able to help you.

[Rebecca Salerno]

That is all so much help. Thank you! I will contact those people. I found some old patents online with illustrations that I may use as a guide to try to make something to restore it. I figure worst case i can mount this one on my wall as an art piece and get a new working one. 

You have been such a help. Thank you again. I am so excited I am getting into all of this.

Rebecca

--

[JeanDavid]

On Aug 19, 11:35 am, Rebecca Salerno <carbo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> That is all so much help. Thank you! I will contact those people. I found
> some old patents online with illustrations that I may use as a guide to try
> to make something to restore it. I figure worst case i can mount this one on
> my wall as an art piece and get a new working one.
>
> You have been such a help. Thank you again. I am so excited I am getting
> into all of this.
>
> Rebecca

I am glad if I have been any help.

I hope you do get a new toy piano with 37 notes. That is what I did.

Where do you live? (I am not asking for street address, just nearest
recognizable city.) If you are somewhere near New Jersey, that is
where I live; In Shrewsbury.

[Pawel Romanczuk]

Hi Rebecca,

i think the part is missing it's kind of wood board with loose tongues of card-board, with little wood hammers, at end.

The whole wood board should be fixed at bottom to frame with metal bars. Please, look for the similiar solution in old french toy piano.

The Schoenhuts have the another contruction, look for the original patent in pdf.

Yes, the Symphony should be nice art-piece, but now you have many different modern models to choose.

If you would to know - the same model have the good know composer George Crumb !

I just finished the book about the history of toy pianos, so i'm very interested in ;)

 

best wishes

Pawel

[Rebecca Salerno]

this is so helpful!

thank you so much. 

i am so excited to start with the toy piano. 

thank you so much for your help!!!

rebecca