Small Problems

Lots of little things can gum up the works in your piano. Simple problems can annoy and grind your playing to a halt. Gravity often lends a hand by inviting small objects to fall into the action or key bed without notice. Keys that won't go down, keys that won't come back up, keys that won't repeat rapidly, funny sounds and rattles that have nothing to do with music are frequently caused by small items falling into the works. I have removed items as small as a grain of sand sticking two keys together. Beyond these, there are an endless list of wear items that can be improved with a small amount of attention. Most of the moving parts in your piano for instance, do so with the help of felt bushings. They are everywhere under the hood and frequently, sticky parts can be tracked down and mended with a little TLC.

In our dry climate, tuning pins frequently become loose due to wood shrinkage in the pin block making tuning virtually impossible. This is a serious problem that in most cases, can be addressed successfully with a variety of cures that are neither time consuming or expensive.

Cleaning is one of my most often asked for services. Pianos gather dust on the soundboard and working surfaces of both upright and grand pianos. Over time, dust and airborne material such as animal hair gather on visible surfaces where they are simply unsightly and, more importantly, on the inner workings of the action, keys and dampers causing friction to build in moving parts. Cleaning any piano takes about an hour and makes a dramatic difference in appearance as well as providing a valuable preventative maintenance.

Most common problems simply need attention and are easily rectified with a little care. The good news is that most of these are inexpensive to address and and can quickly put your piano back in working order.