Roderick Sprattling mentioned that "The keys lifted out of the key bed
easily. Each was stamped with a unique number, from bass to treble,
saving us having to pencil in sequence numbers."
This is extremely common on most pianos; I'm yet to see keys that
weren't numbered as such. A bit of advice about these stamped-on
numbers: they're great as long as they're easily read, but a '66' or
even a '60' can look remarkably like an '80' or an '88', especially
after one has replaced and filed new keytops.
If you don't relish the idea of hand-numbering them in something a bit
easier to read, simply put them back in the keybed in proper order,
then with a pencil (I find a red pencil works even better) draw a large
"X" on the key sticks using a straight edge, the "X" running the length
of the keyboard, thus making getting them back in order remarkably
easier.
This is also handy when you have a box of key sticks and are traipsing
through the shop, trip, and scatter key sticks all over your shop
floor. Been there, done that; got the proverbial tee shirt!
Bryan Cather
Fort Worth, Texas - on the east edge of The West
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