The A. Cecil Taylor Jacks

Three different kinds of jack bodies. The upper two are equipped with Burton tongues. The top one has a square opening for a leather plectrum. The center one has a cruciform opening for a delrin plectrum. The bottom one shows how the brass is machined to accept the tongue.

These bodies are 3 inches long. They are made of 3/16" square brass tubing.
The tubing is threaded internally at the bottom to accept the delrin rods, which are shown below.




These are the delrin rods, which provide an adjustment for length and which keep the surface of the key from being gouged. They are 3/16" in diameter. The upper one is 5 1/4" long and the lower one is 3" long.




These are three different types of damper. They are made of 7/32" square brass tubing.




This is a nearly complete jack. Only the plectrum is missing. Total length is slightly less than 6".




This shows the relationship between the damper and the plectrum.




The 4' stop may be played from either the upper or lower manual. It can be brought into play by the pedals without jamming up the works. This is accomplished by the use of a special “dog leg” jack, shown above. The brass body of this jack is 6 1/4" long. These jacks have leather dampers which are glued to the side of the jack. This is omitted on the jack pictured above.

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