Piano Health

4 steps for Piano Health

1. Send Open Keylid your piano, sometimes

Keeping your floor closed when not in use is a good habit to get ... 70% of the time. The particles of dust and air can build into a sticky mess between the piano keys, resulting in mobility problems. However, if the lid is closed for too long, mold growth can occur inside the piano. This is especially true if your piano is kept in a dark room or damp.

* Keep the keylid on a couple of times a week during daylight hours. indirect sunlight and good air circulation will discourage the formation of mold inside your piano.

* A fresh once-over with an attachment for vacuum cleaners can help to combat the accumulation of dust.

* If you have a keyboard, invest in a properly fitted cover. Mold is generally not a problem here.

2. No drinks on the piano!

If the liquid seeps between the piano keys and reach the interior, it can cause large (and expensive) damage. Damage done to finish the exterior wood is a fact.

* If the liquid gets between the keys, contact a registered piano technician as soon as possible. Do not remove the keys and groped by themselves address the mess.

* If the liquid gets on the piano, blot excess liquid from the surface of the keys'. To avoid further dripping, try not to press any button during this operation.

* For spills on keyboards electrical: Disconnect all at once. Groped not shake the keyboard dry, this liquid can drive deeper into your instrument.

3. Humidity levels ideal for a Piano

Pianos are very sensitive to changes in humidity. high levels of humidity can cause wood to warp, and lower humidity can cause cracking.

The wooden floor was placed and intricate craftsmanship, and the sound quality is based on it. Changes in the wood can also affect tuning, and if the time wood or loose, the strings will go out and pitch.

* Keep your piano away from heating vents and windows, and close the door to your room if the piano is near a kitchen or bathroom.

* Monitor the levels of indoor humidity, and regulate them with a humidifier or dehumidifier. 40% humidity is ideal.

* Close all windows in the room of the piano to avoid condensation. This is particularly important for your electric piano.

4. Adjust the climate around Piano

The temperature can be another enemy of the piano. The cold can weaken delicate wooden parts, and the use of a piano under these conditions can cause these parts snap. Heat can affect the strings and loosen the felt on the hammers. The room temperature (70-72 ° C, 21-22 ° C) is ideal.

* Adjust the temperature of the room with an air conditioner or heater, but piano to keep a distance from both.

* Keep your piano away from an outside wall. If no other space is available, the position of the piano at least six feet away from it.

* Close all doors and windows of your room floor, and do not allow direct sunlight to touch your instrument. It can damage the inside, causing discoloration and breakdown of the lining of the piano.

Tune Piano

How Tune an Upright Piano

Tuning should be part of regular care and maintenance for each piano, including grands, upright or spinet-style instruments. Finalization of the piano requires time and careful work, but can be done without extensive training from the owners of the piano with the right tools.

Things You'll Need:
• Mutes
• Tuning key
• Electronic Tuner

Instructions:

1. Clear the area around the upright piano and put all your tools within easy reach. Open the top or front of the pianoe to expose the action, which consists of hammers and strings.

2. Find the strings that connect the center C. Wedge the silence beneath the two outside strings. Insert the key on the pin tuning knob to the center string.

3. Hit the button repeatedly while watching the electronic tuner to see if it is proved that the string is a perfect reproduction of C. If the string is flat, C or less perfect, turn the key to keeping a bit 'on the left to loosen and then gradually to the right to raise and tighten the rope. If the string is sharp, perfect C or higher, turn the tuning key on the left to loosen and lower the pitch of the string. Always less than or loosen a string of a small amount before you tighten a string. Turn the key optimization very slowly and carefully. When the noise of the key strikes the string causes the electronic tuner to show that the string is playing a perfect C, "set up" by turning the key slightly to the right tune. When you remove the key, the string will be set to fall camp in a very small amount to the correct pitch.

4. Remove the key carefully and slowly. Remove the mute and a spot on the rope to the outside right. Strike the C button and listen to the beats --- the "wah-wah" --- sounds coming from the center left and the string to be matched. Place the tuning key on the pin for the string to the left and slowly and carefully lower and then adjust as needed until the strings in unison sound and you hear the oscillations of the jokes.

5. Repeat for the third string of the note (if any) so that it is in line with the two strings that have already tuned.

6. Repeat this process for each half of the eighth note. When the half octave is tuned, tune the adjacent octaves, alternating tuning octaves above and below the average of an octave.

Clean Inside a Grand piano lid

How Clean Inside a Grand piano lid
If you have a grandpiano, you know how to dust and dirt can get under the cover. There are several things you can do on your own to clean the inside of the lid of the piano and keep it clean.

Instructions:

1. When possible, keep the lid closed. If you have the top most of the time, the piano will trap a lot of dust and dirt. Just open when you really need or want the full sound the look and beauty of a great open.

2. Take a soft cloth dust and dust carefully the front area around the ankles and easily accessible area around the ropes. Be sure to use a white cloth without any oil, since oil can damage the pins or strings. You can do this every couple of weeks.

3. For a more thorough cleaning, vacuum the area with the pin brush vacuum dust. Then back around to empty strings and very lightly and carefully on the ropes.

4. When the piano is very dusty, blow the dirt around the ankles and under the ropes with a shop vacuum or a void that can be reversed in order to blow. This blow dust around the room, so be prepared to clean the rest of the room later. Some tuners use this method.

5. Another method used by tuners is this: Get a clean cloth and place it carefully under the ropes, push it around and pull out again. To move the rag, tuners use a flexible steel called implement sound card, which can be ordered on the Internet. Caution is needed because the steel can scratch your sound card or damage a string. I personally have replaced a plastic stick with good success. If you want to try this, do not use too often a rag, and be careful. If you have a very valuable tool, ask your tuner to do it for you. In any case, if you follow all the other steps, your piano will remain clean in much, much more.

Rebuilt Piano Steinway

Used and Rebuilt Steinway

We are the largest U.S. independent dealer of used and rebuilt Steinway, with nearly 100 Steinway pianos in our inventory.

Steinway that we carry include those that are almost new, the ones that are rebuilt, and those that are used in good condition, very good or excellent. Our mission, to be the leading rebuilder and supplier of quality pianos Steinway concert pianists looking for the best quality piano for their money, you get in three main ways:

* We hand-pick our inventory Steinway. This is particularly important since no two Steinways are the same. We carefully select Steinways only able to meet (or have the potential to meet) our standard of quality and performance.

* We have our piano restoration facility of 12,000 feet, where our highly skilled craftsmen who use our machines owned and processes that have been developed and refined over the past 30 years, to rebuild our era Steinway to their original splendor. We set the industry standard for the reconstruction quality Steinway, which only benefits our customers as we do not offer our services reconstruction of other dealers. The market has clearly recognized the quality of our reconstruction and value, as we sell our rebuilt pianos at competitive prices with the prices of other rebuilders, generally sell in the secondary market for the premiums remarkable pianos rebuilt by others. The "Faust Harrison rebuilt Steinway" has become a highly sought after brand in and of itself. Steinway



* Our staff has a combined sales of the largest deposits of Steinway knowledge and expertise in the world, that our customers are very valuable, considering that no two Steinways are the same and there are real differences between the new, nearly new , used and rebuilt Steinways.


Of the Steinway that we carry:

* Our Steinways almost new look, and sound like new, but they cost about 75% of the price of a new Steinway.

* Our completely renovated and decorated with vintage vintage Steinways usually cost about 75-80% of the price of comparable new models.

* We used 'value' pianos are prepared and detailed to be the best possible without incurring the expense of a complete renovation, and that means less cost.

Vintage Piano

The Soul of a Vintage Piano

There is a difference between a properly restored vintage Steinway piano and a factory product of any brand. Once again, I will illustrate this with an example. Imagine a Yamaha C7 (7 ft 5 inches) and a vintage restored Steinway B (6 feet 11 inches), sitting side by side in a room with good acoustics. You sit down to play the C 7, and is a wonderful piano. Moves to compare the Steinway B sound and touch. As you play you realize that there is a subtle difference in sound.

The Steinway has a warm sound more resonant and responsive feel. Do you realize that the sound of this piano is truly unique. It may not be exactly duplicated no matter how hard you might try. Here are the reasons. The Yamaha was built in a factory. Every part of the installation of the piano has been mechanized to the extent possible. The screws are tightened all exactly the same.

The tolerances of the notches and bridge pins are correct. The result is a mass-produced wonderful piano. In comparison, the restored vintage Steinway is stripped down by hand, hand-finished, the finish is rubbed raw by hand in a process that takes weeks. The best color for the finish is chosen specifically for that piano. Subsequently, the sound card, pin block and bridge caps are replaced.

The sound card is topped up by a table of belly man belly. Each table has different characteristics. Every man does his stomach in his own way, and all of its pianos have as recognizable as his work. Subsequently, the action is stripped, cleaned, re felted, reassembled, regulated, and voiced in a process that takes weeks. The best parts of action are considered specifically for the character of the sound you want for that piano.

Once the piano is drawn and developed the tone regulation begins. Although this work continues with the aim to bring out the character of that piano in particular. The result is a piano that has more than the sum of its parts. E 'unique touch and sound. It has the individual stamp of all those who worked on it. It has a unique history that dates back even if the years the artisan who created the piano, sometimes more than one hundred years ago through the process of restoration that is totally independent on the piano.

Antique pianos: the real value in a practical world

It 's very well to talk about the beauty of the piano and its sound wonderful, and his soul. What does this mean in the real world?

Vintage Steinway pianos as an investment

Your primary investment for the purchase of an antique piano is the satisfaction that you get to play, and looking at the piano. This is the intrinsic value of the piano and is completely subjective. The monetary value of the piano can be identified by comparison shopping. First we will consider as a condition vintage Steinways. This means that the complete restoration is needed. Here are realistic wholesale prices that a dealer typically pay for each model a piano in need of complete restoration.

Steinway S, 5 ft 1 in $ 4,500.00
Steinway M, 5 feet 7 inches $ 5,500.00
Steinway O, L, 5 ft 10 ½ inches up to $ 8,500.00
Steinway A1, 6 feet 2 inches up to $ 9,500.00
Steinway A2, 6 ft 1 "up to $ 9,500.00
Steinway A3, 6 feet 4 inches up to € 11,000.00
Steinway B, 6 feet 11 inches up to € 14,000.00
Steinway C, 7 feet 5 inches up to $ 17,000.00
Steinway D 8 ft 11 inches up to € 22,000.00

These are wholesale prices for pianos ebony with straight legs. Merchants who usually pay a premium for the pianos tone wood case with ornate styles or art. A premium is sometimes paid for ivory use.

Here is a spreadsheet paying retail prices for most common models and styles of antique pianos restored Steinway grand. This can be verified by comparison shopping.

Now that you know more than you ever wanted on vintage Steinway pianos I will include some pictures depicting the various styles of IE legs. Flower Pot Ice Cream Cone, Louis XV, Serpentine, Tulip.

Vintage Piano

Definition of a Vintage Piano

An vintage piano is not just an old piano. An vintage piano must have a real value. A Wurlitzer piano made in the early 1900's is just an old piano and a Steinway piano from the same period would be considered vintage. What is the difference? The simple answer is quality and value. The antique piano is precious above all because the potential for beauty of sound and appearance, and secondly because of the Steinway name. The value of the antique piano is enhanced by the preservation of the original case and ivory keys. This is especially true if the piano has a unique case. Examples of this would be a case of Louis XV, or a D Centenary with serpentine legs, original ivories, and a cut lectern. However, a straight leg from the 1940 Steinway piano is also considered a classic, though less valuable, only for the potential beauty of sound and the simple elegance of the case.

Vintage pianos: the potential value against the realization of potential.

To illustrate this theme, I use the example of a rosewood Steinway A flower pot with legs, cut the lectern, and the original ivory keys. This is an antique piano in the non-playable.

This piano has a lot of potential value because the rosewood veneer is recoverable, the piano has all its original parts, and has the potential to be a wonderful musical instrument. To fully exploit this potential, the piano must be fully restored to its original state.

In example (below) of this original one Steinway sound card, the locking pin and the shares are non-usable and must be replaced. If this is not done the full potential value of this piano period could never be realized because the piano would never play properly. At the same time, the case of the piano would need to be restored with original parts to realize the full potential value of the piano.

Steinway Rebuilding Advise

Steinway Rebuilding Advise

I am looking for information on a piano that I'm going to buy for reconstruction. The piano is a 1935 Steinway Model L. The main problem is that the piano was not played for a very long time and the action is oxidized makes unplayable. Being a pianist, artist level, I need a piano is a beautiful sound and excellent action. My technician is experienced enough repected and says that this piano is a wonderful candidate for the reconstruction and that the soundboad is perfect. He proposed a complete rebuild with all parties Steinway, short of replacing the soundboard that he refinish / close for reasons of conservation and cosmetics. He will replace the entire action, pinblock, bows, hammers, etc. What questions should I be asking him and waiting for the situation as regards the final outcome? Are strings and hammers also from Steinway? Thanks for any and all REPONSES and advise.

In essance, what you really want is to be armed with sufficient knowledge and intelligent questions in order to protect themselves somewhat.To pick the brains of the professionals here is a way to go about it. There is an implication ettiquette as you can guess as to entrust your reconstruction tech where as these are the questions that should be asked not to other technologies, with opposing viewpoints and opinions. In fact, it's perfectly natural to do so if what you acquire is actually only superficial knowledge in order to qualify themselves as an "expert Overnite."
The number one question always be "Do you use all parts Steinway." I usually say that the parties Knabe people usually do not fit!
I could list 100 + different questions for you to quiz your tech rebuilder, as for the procedure, but they are not.

Some of the questions you might want to actually survey are

1) If you make a living as a tuner / tech or reconstruction?
2) What exactly how to do reconstruction procedures subcontracters other outside source. What do you personally yourself.ex exact procedures. pinblock, the hole and hang on hammers, etc. keytops
3) Do you personally "refine" his client's pianos? or do you help where the customer pays the person (contractor) apart.
4) Do you have a dedicated facility, as for most of the reconstruction. It 'made in the structure "Finish".
5) When outsourcing, do you take on 100% of respondsibility at the end of your subwoofer.
6) How many actual full restorations do you make a year.
7) What happens if I do not like the end result eg. choice of hammers, or touchweight?

It seems to me that you are a pianist at a level of competence while you personally are gonna be quite discriminating in piano and peer into the feel / performance result and end up at the bottom of it .... why would you even consider this commissioned to rebuild if you do not already have the piano.
We have done over the years of 300 + restorations only Steinway grand pianos and everybody is going to be a bit 'different even though many are similar. Professional players will have the chance. We will choose a piano from their spec inventory and trade in their core reconstructed "before going on this road. There have been many, many success stories, as the preferred scenario though most have been furnished.

Just my opinion though I also have facilitated restoration Steinway more than I can remember.