For the next duration, I will be uploading documentation on every model of Wurlitzer Electric Piano ever produced, chronologically. Approximately 1 page per model, 5 instruments per week, around 40 instruments total. And then the accessories.
This will take a several weeks, as each page is a photo essay… and an essay. In the meantime, if the instrument you are curious about isn’t here, I refer you to my complete list, on which these blog entries are based: Here.
The Wurlitzer Electronic Piano Model 111. Wood & Brooks Action. Seemingly more common now than the Model 110, as several have shown up for sale recently. Nonetheless, very few of these were made. My data says the serial number range is either 366 or 383. If the separate serial numbers of their amps are included in this range, the number produced could be half that: 183 to 192-ish. This makes me all the more horrified that an impatient elderly man recently announced to me that he’d thrown his into a garbage dump because I took too long to cart it away, and he assessed there was “mouse damage, anyway.” Um, please don’t do that. I almost jumped out the window when I heard that sad news.
The model 111 retains the reddish brown of the 110. I prefer this look to the lighter flecktone found in most (not all) Model 112‘s. (There are 112’s that have the same reddish brown and wooden legs of later 111’s.)
The 111 apparently has no manual: One original owner was given a 110 manual instead (which confused him given the changes in accessing the works). Reed screws are under damper action and hard to access (true of all 1950s models).
The body is changed from a 110, and now the action is accessible from the top (by removing screws), instead of sliding out the front. You can differentiate a 110 from 111 in photos by looking at the slope of the sides on each end of the keyboard; a 111 has a curve, compared to the futuristic, triangular sides of the 110.
Thanks to Fred DiLeone, I have a photo of a bill of sale for a 111 sold on July 25, 1955. Since I am under the impression that no Wurlitzer Electronic Pianos were sold in stores prior to June 1955, I am assuming that the 110’s and 111’s were distributed at roughly the same time.
The lead treble sustain brick of later 1950s models, spanning the top 8 notes — a crucial mass which makes the notes ring– is found on at least one of these – not all of them, and not sequentially by serial number. In fact, as I’ve only seen it on one, and as many early 112’s are missing it, I’m wondering if this was a later modification to this particular instrument. More commonly found are small weights distributed around the reedbar.
Sustain pedal mounts on side, also in 112; this is a terrible design which is hard to adjust or regulate. It causes too much friction in the cable, and it torques the damper mechanism poorly. Unlike the later, bottom-mounting ones, these pedals are rare! Don’t throw them out or repurpose them–that would be tragic. The 111 pedal attachment lacks the adjustable tension screw of the 112…so it’s even worse.
Still sits on table with wrought iron legs, matching bench. Er….sometimes — though some have screw-in legs like the 112. (You can see in this example that the inside cover has slots for wooden legs, even though this instrument doesn’t use them.) A lot of variety for such a short-production instrument! As we will see many times in the history of the Wurli EP, there was an official or informal policy of using up all parts from the prior models; so the production run of the 111 can be seen as a continuum of features, transitioning from those of the 110 to the 112 over its few months of production.
In some (likely all) examples, original hammer felts were a distinctive deep purple.
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Update Sept 19, 2024:
Matthew Totaro has been chatting by phone with me about his very early 111, and it is giving me some insights into the development of the action over the course of the run of these instruments. I’ll be updating this blog post with some great photos he’s taken of his restoration process.
A couple of action changes were made between the earliest 110’s and the last 112’s. At least one of them happened during the brief run of 111’s.
Here is the action design found in all 112’s, which actually debuted during 111 production:
Action of later 111 and 112 (scan by Vintage Vibe).
I added the schematic of the 110 to the prior blog post. Here is a mirror image of it, to allow for easy visual comparison with the 112:
Action of earlier 111 and 110 (mirror image for comparison).
Notice items 31 and 32 on the 112 schematic. They allow for adjustment of the damper heights. In the 110 and the early 111, these parts are at the bottom of the damper lever wire, making adjustment needlessly difficult.
The 112 schematic has a “Main Rail Stiffener” (item 33) which may be lacking in the 110. Awaiting verification, this was probably found in later 111’s.
The 110 schematic has a key height of 15/32. The 112 schematic is at 13/32. Was this a change during the 111 run, or did the schematic get more accurate?
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Given these variations — legs like either the 110 or 112, a color and body that can be found on some 112’s, sustain masses like either the 110 or 112– what makes a 111 distinctively a 111? “The 111 is essentially a 112, with the 110 amplifier,” says Wurli expert Fred DiLeone (on the EP forum site). And that’s about it. If it has a 110 amp, but can be opened from the top, it’s a 111. Maybe that’s why there are so few of these; perhaps there weren’t many leftover 110 amps, so everything from that point on was a 112. Although the pretty brown 112’s seem to be even rarer than 111’s.
Many photos here are by Brendan Burn Williamson (thank you!). His 111, serial # 1377, has a date stamp of May 11, 1955 inside. As far as I can tell, no Wurlitzers were advertised in stores until June 1955. Were 111’s among those that first hit stores, or would this have been available for sale only later in the year? (Keep in mind that date stamps don’t tell the whole story. It is common to find parts and assemblies, intended for a certain model, to end up repurposed for the next model.)
If your interest is primarily in this specific model of Wurlitzer, I nonetheless encourage you to read my posts on the models 110, 112 and 112A. There is a lot of ground to cover, and I go into more detail about design features shared by ALL of these instruments on those pages.
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