Blog
What a hack job . .
I had to pull the action on a very nicely refinished Steinway grand. My jaw dropped after seeing the pin block.This is by far the worst job I have ever seen on installing a new pin block. It is cut in two pieces and hacked away to make it fit. I did not have the …
Read moreHohner 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 …
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