Tuning and Maintenance

Tuning

All pianos need to be tuned at least once a year, and most benefit from being tuned twice a year.

A piano goes out of tune because of heat and humidity differences—usually flat in the winter and sharp in the summer.  Most average pianists cannot tell when their piano has started to go out of tune until it is quite flat or the unisons are really out.  At that point, the instrument is beyond a simple maintenance tuning and requires a “pitch raise” or double tuning.  Just bringing the piano back up to A-440 (international pitch standard) takes two tunings, because the technician must make significant adjustments to the tension of every single string.  It is a more stable and reliable procedure to bring the entire piano back up to pitch and then do a second fine tuning.  This is obviously more time-consuming and costly, so don’t wait!  Schedule regular maintenance tunings for your piano.

Protect your investment and your ears—keep your piano in tune.

 

Can’t find your pencil?  It might be in your piano. We found all this and several dollars in change inside one customer’s instrument.

Once we even found dog food under the keys!

Maintenance

Pianos require occasional adjustments and overhauls, just like cars.  Felts harden with age and wear with use; glue joints dry out, wood cracks, metal becomes weak or brittle, etc.

A piano has tens of thousands of parts, and each of these must be adjusted within a thousandth of an inch (literally!) for the instrument to function optimally. 

Have you ever played a piano where the notes didn’t repeat well, or felt mushy?  What about notes that kept a ‘ghost’ ringing after you let go?  Uneven keys, ‘jiggling’ keys, pedals that don’t feel quite right and all kinds of other little annoyances can keep you from enjoying your piano.  Often we can fix these issues without extravagant cost.  Be sure to mention your concerns to the technician.