If you own a piano, you may have experienced a “sticky key”.
A sticky key is an “umbrella term” that describes a key that is not working properly. It can make your favorite piano piece difficult to play and make you lose your motivation to keep practicing your piano.
Sticky keys can happen occasionally on any piano and are especially common in older pianos-over 100 yrs.
A variety of different things can be causing that piano key to stick.
It could be as simple as the key slip needs to be adjusted. Or it could be warping of the keyslip or keys themselves. Sometimes broken keys are the cause. In many cases, it can be items falling in the piano, or something lodges in between the keys.
Some other culprits of sticky keys are the bushings are too tight on the balance rail and front rail pins. Other causes are the whippen flange or jack are sluggish, or the hammerhead felt has detached. In many cases, there is some small adjustment that needs to be made in the action.
In the case of this 1979 Wurlitzer Upright, there was a key that would occasionally stick.
The bridle strap was getting caught on the regulating screw. It just needed a minor adjustment with a regulation tool and the key was working correctly again.
If you can’t figure out what is causing that sticky key on your own, we are here to help! You can schedule one of our piano technicians to come and take a look, fix the problem, and make your piano fun to play again!
