Piano Tuning
Your Piano is made up of over 5000 parts; there are over 100 components to just one note! To keep your instrument in top condition, there are a number of things that must be carried out on a regular basis.
Tuning
There can be many reasons why a Piano goes out of tune, including loose wrest pins, humid/dry atmosphere, or just heavy use. We recommend that your Piano is tuned at least twice a year to keep it up to correct pitch.
The standard accepted compass for a modern piano is seven and a quarter octaves or eighty-eight notes. Each note may have one, two or three strings, known respectively as monochords, bichords or trichords.
Regulation
This is a new subject for a lot of owners, and can be described as tightening up the mechanism to reduce slackness in the action and to prevent early wear and tear. 99% of all new Pianos are regulated and set up prior to leaving the shop; however during the first couple of years the positive feel of the action will lessen and will need to be adjusted. We recommend that professional and serious Pianists have their Piano regulated every 2 years and regular home use every 5 years.
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Toning
After a while the felt on a Piano hammer becomes compressed and hard, resulting in a harsh and bright tone.
On most instruments toning the hammers can reverse this, returning it to its original more pleasant sound.
General Service
Every 3 to 4 years, it is prudent to have your Piano serviced. This involves cleaning all the inaccessible areas in the main casework, cleaning the action, strings, soundboard and keys, re-facing the hammers, and regulating the action. It's also a good time to check for any signs of possible long term damage caused by external forces, e.g. Moth or humidity damage.
Detailed below are the ten steps that we carry out during a general service.
1 Clean strings
2 Clean soundboard
3 Clean frame
4 Clean key bed and polish key pins
5 Clean action
6 Reface hammers
7 Regulate action to customers requirements, e.g. touch/tone etc
8 Check for Moth/humidity damage, including measuring humidity
9 Strip down and dry lubricate pedal mechanism
10 Tune the instrument