What kind of repairs?

Strings, Keys, Action, Rebuilds

I am able to make just about any kind repair that your piano may need, including parts replacement, reconditioning and rebuilding. If it is a broken key, a broken string, a chipped key top, a loose key, or anything else - I can fix it!

Strings

Sometimes when a piano is being played or tuned a string breaks. This can be a traumatic experience--the noise of it breaking resembles a shotgun firing, and the loose string can fly dangerously across the room! Strings break though - and it is important to note that your technician is not the reason it broke (if he's doing everything correctly!). Strings break; technicians do not break strings! Oftentimes a string will break when it is pulled up to correct pitch/tension. Sometimes a string is old and brittle. Sometimes they simply break for no good reason. There are two kinds of repairs that can be done to fix this:

A string splice is a recommended immediate fix. The technican ties a knot with the broken music wire to the new music wire and re-wraps the string around the tuning pin. This fix is quick, and can be permanent with a good splice.

Replacing the string is another fix, and is my personal recommendation. The technician measures the guage of the music wire and replaces the old broken string completely with a new one. While this may seem like a superior fix to splicing there are a few things one must account for:
1) Because this is a new string, it is going to stretch out as tension is added to it--and it will go out of tune very quickly for the first couple of weeks. Not only will the material cost of replacing a string cost you money, your technician will also have to come back regularly to re-tune it until it settles.
2) The tone (and look) of a new string can be different. Not only would you have a bright shiny string amidst rusty old ones, a new string will sound different because it doesn't have rust, dirt, or wear to it.

Keys

Keys can break in many places, for many reasons. Often times poor craftsmenship on less expensive pianos or old wood are the reasons for keys breaking. Kep tops can chip or fall off for similar reasons. Luckily, most key repairs can be made with proper gluing techniques, and are not that difficult to do. Complications arise when the technician needs to match the color of a "white" key top to another "white" key top; the results can be surprisingly different! Replacing and matching keytops is an acquired skill, as is working with genuine ivory.

Action

Many times the wooden, metal, or felt pieces in the action wear down, break, or for any other reason need to be repaired. Trying to keep the cost minimal and the quality as best as possible, I can reglue a part or replace it. We can decide together what's best for the piano and what meets your needs.

Rebuild

Rebuilding and restoration of pianos is very much an individual decision as the purchase of a new instrument. Generally, this procedure is done on older quality grand pianos and is considered a good and sometimes better investment than the purchase of a new piano. I have restored antique pianos that have little to no value as an investment due to the size, type, or quality. Sentimental reasons often times compel one to spend a lot of money to rebuild a piano that belonged to a family member or that they took their first lessons on. The piano has been restored, many times to a better sounding piano than it was orginally. And, I have done quite a few of these. The clients were more than pleased with the end result and is ok so long as the expectation is not unrealistic. You simply can not make an inferior piano sound like a Steinway or Baldwin. On the other hand, I have redesigned scales and improved the sound so much that it amazed even me. So, when considering rebuilding or restoring your piano, consider the cost of replacing it with a similar quality piano and all of the other factors involved. I do estimates and appraisals and will discuss the feasibility of restoration with you.

Menu