My Services
As a piano technician, I can tune, regulate and voice your piano and make needed repairs. Individual situations will vary, but during a tuning appointment I will generally perform the following: • Assess the condition of your piano • Ask about any concerns with the instrument's condition or operation • Recommend any adjustments or repairs that may be required before tuning • Tune each of the strings to the proper pitch standard • Recommend possible future work based on the condition of your piano The actual tuning may take around two hours, but might be longer depending on how out of tune the piano is, its ...
Protect Your Investment
The Piano Life Saver is a piano humidity control system. It keeps your piano in tune and prevents damage from climate and environmental effects, giving you professional performance level tonal quality and keyboard control. Read about the Benefits of a Piano Humidifier... Piano tuners, technicians and major piano manufacturers recommend installing the Piano Life Saver System for care and maintenance of your piano’s internal parts, improved keyboard action, and extended tuning stability. The System keeps piano humidity levels consistent by activating the Dehumidifier during highly humid conditions, and when the environment gets too dry, the Humidifier replaces moisture inside the piano. The System ...
Tuning
To tune your piano, the tension of each string must be adjusted so that it vibrates at the correct pitch and sounds in harmony when musical intervals are played. There are over 200 strings in a piano with the combined pull of all strings equaling between eighteen and thirty tons. This high tension means that the tuning pins the strings wrap around have to be set very tightly in a strong wooden block, requiring a special wrench to turn them up or down. I start with one string in the middle of the piano and get its correct pitch from a ...
Regulation
Regulation is the adjustment of the mechanical components of your piano. A piano is made up of a harp and a mechanism that strikes the strings of the harp, which is called the action. Te action mechanism is made up of the keys and a system of moving parts that translates the movement of the keys into movement of the hammers that in turn strike the strings. When new, the action is adjusted so that your piano will produce the best feel and response possible. Over time, as the action wears in, the felt compacts and the hammers wear. The tone ...
Voicing
Voicing is the adjustment of the piano's quality of sound or tone. The technician will voice the piano to ensure the tone is even from the lowest to the highest notes. A piano's tone will change with use. As the hammers wear and compact, the tone will often become too harsh. Before having a piano voiced, it should first be well-tuned and regulated. Symptoms indicating a need for voicing are similar to those requiring regulation. As with regulating, voicing typically only needs to be done once every one to five years depending on the condition of the piano and the ...
Common Repairs
Sticking Keys Sticking keys are most common in new pianos. Changes in humidity that occur during shipping can cause keys to stick. Sticking keys can also show up in older pianos when the wood and felt swell with very high humidity in the middle of the summer or when the wooden keys shrink in low humidity conditions during the peak of the heating season. This problem is easy to remedy and can often be done at no additional charge when I am tuning the piano. Buzzes, Rattles & Squeaks Squeaking action parts aren’t usually expensive to remedy. Often a few drops of ...
Services
My ServicesAs a piano technician, I can tune, regulate and voice your piano and make needed...
Protect Your Investment
The Piano Life Saver is a piano humidity control system. It keeps your piano in tune...
Tuning
To tune your piano, the tension of each string must be adjusted so that it vibrates...
Regulation
Regulation is the adjustment of the mechanical components of your piano. A piano...
Voicing
Voicing is the adjustment of the piano’s quality of sound or tone. The technician...
Common Repairs
Sticking Keys Sticking keys are most common in new pianos. Changes in humidity that...
About Your Piano
Your PianoKnown as “The King of Instruments,” your piano is an intricate and complex...
How do I care for my piano?
Clean the keys with a damp soft cloth that is lint free (cheesecloth works well)....
Why does my piano go out of tune?
All acoustic pianos go out of tune, from the smallest spinet to the largest grand,...
When do I need to have my piano tuned?
The single most important part of any piano’s maintenance is its tuning. Unfortunately,...
The Weather and Your Piano
The weather affects your piano in many ways. Excess humidity can make a piano go...
My piano is in bad shape. Can it be salvaged?
Although remarkably durable, pianos are subject to deterioration with time and use....
Articles
What is Concert Pitch?What’s Concert Pitch? Concert pitch A440 (A above middle C vibrating at 440 times per second) has been universally accepted as the pitch to which all instruments should be tuned. It ensures that when instruments play together, they will all be in tune with one another. Pianos are designed and built to sound their best when tuned to A440. So when... [Read more of this article]
How To Buy A Good Used Piano
There is an old saying that “they don’t make things like they used to”. It’s true that there were many fine pianos made in the early part of the twentieth century but there was also a lot of junk made as well. Given many decades of use and abuse some pianos will have stood up remarkably well while others are now only suitable... [Read more of this article]
Rebuilding a Piano
Rebuilding involves complete dis-assembly, inspection, and repair as necessary, including replacement of all worn, damaged, or deteriorated parts. This piano is then reassembled, tested, and adjusted to the same or similar tolerances as new. Complete rebuilding includes the entire pianos structure — including soundboard, bridges, pinblock, and... [Read more of this article]
