[Alan Brinton]

Great! Now we’ll be able to compare notes. These are not hard to find at a reasonable price. Mine is in near-new condition and came in the original cardboard box (the style of which confirms a 1960s dating — very similar to the box of the Yamaha Pianica 32A). However, one note was sounding all the time because the little gold colored gizmo, which serves as the air pad for each white key reed, had come off. Another one, at the low G, has since fallen off. These screw (or snap?) into the bottom of very back end of the white keys. When the key is depressed, the pad lifts and allows air to flow out of a slot or “trench” for the individual reed. I’m guessing that this arrangement isolates each reed somewhat more so than on a typical melodica — so it may be that the effect is similar to what you get with individually mounted reeds — just a guess. I will now see whether these two pads can be remounted without removing the keys, which could be problematic. Each key has its own spring — I think “lever spring” might be the right word here — mounted on its bottom. This PC-1 will not play until these pads are replaced. The face of the pad fixture is as you see it in the above photo. It may have been coated with some substance or had some material glued on — you can see in the photo as much as I can about that. Here are some more close-up photos: