posts by admin
Hohner Clavinet Job
Although I love playing a vintage clav they are not the most fun to rebuild. A customer brought this one in for a few tweaks. The hammer tips turned to gum and needed replacing (which is common). The strings were rusty and kept on snapping right at the hitch. The only solution is a full …
Read morereally good repair . . .
Even though I have been doing this for over 15 years I have never seen this bass bridge repair before. Was on a 100 + year old upright. Who ever did it did a very good job. Normally there are bridge pins driven into the bridge. The wooden bridge could no longer hold the pins …
Read moreCrazy made piano . . .
Tuned this 1930’s square grand piano. I have worked on square grand before but they were from the 1860-1890’s. This one is from the 1930’s. Although is was a little easier to tune then one from the 1800’s it is still very difficult. My back was aching by the end of it. Glad the “new” …
Read moreLow quality control . . .
I noticed this screw dangling down behind the strings. I believe it is a perimeter plate bolt. I can not speak very highly of the quality of non-Japonise Asian made pianos. Maybe it was made on a Friday afternoon.
Read moreAh Oh . . .
From time to time I come across pianos that have this problem.The bass hammers are coming undone from their moldings.As “The Piano Book” points out – 1970’s era Aoelian pianos are among the worst quality (or words to that effect). This one surely fits that bill. I did the best I could.
Read moreYet another restringing job . . .
A customer had a beautiful but very old Ivers and Pond full sized upright. The problem is it would no longer hold a tuning. A good candidate for repining and restringing.I like this kind of work because It allows me to focus on one thing and one thing only. Another piano saved from oblivion. It …
Read moreNew life for an old piano . . .
This 125 year old Knabe would not hold a tuning any longer. First step – remove the old rusty strings. With the bass strings removed I send them off to the string maker.Its a long slow process but Im getting there. Using oversized tuning pins and a fresh set of strings this piano should have …
Read moreWell . . . its happened again
More work then one man can handle at the moment. I need to take a breath and tackle one project at a time. There are worse things in life then being too busy.
Read moreNot really the “great deal” you thought it was . . .
Time and time again I tell people to have a technician look a piano before spending money on moving it. This piano will not hold a tuning. You can see the white-ish outlines around the tuning pins. This tells me someone tried to “dope the block” with tuning pin tightener. Basically trying to glue the …
Read moreGiving the ol’girl a new lease on life . . .
This vintage of Chickering (1940’s) seem to be prone to bass strings popping. The customer is very attached to this piano as it was her fathers growing up in the 40’s. It was over a half step flat and evidence of string breakage. Sure enough bass string after bass string kept snapping. She was willing …
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