Piano Restoration
Mastered restoration and refinishing pianos is our specialty. We would be pleased to bring your family heirloom back to life. Pianos that have lost their original beautiful tone and finish can be restored and look as nice as when they were first built. The special quality of the antique cabinetry combined with the high tech felts, strings, and leathers that are available today, creates a beautiful looking and sounding instrument.
Generally speaking, a REPAIR involves fixing isolated broken parts, such as a broken hammer, a missing string, or an improperly working pedal. That is, it does not necessarily involve upgrading the condition of the instrument as a whole, but attends only to specific broken parts.
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Reconditioning Your Piano
Reconditioning always involves a general upgrading of the whole piano, but with as little actual replacement of parts as possible. For instance, the reconditioning of an old upright piano might include resurfacing the hammers (instead of replacing them) and twisting the bass strings to improve their tone (instead of replacing them), as well as cleaning the whole instrument and regulating the action. If parts are broken or missing, of course, they must also be repaired or replaced, so this particular reconditioning job might also include replacing a set of bridle straps and other relatively minor parts, if needed. Rebuilding is the most complete of the three levels of restoration.
Rebuilding a Piano
Rebuilding involves restringing the piano and usually, replacing the pinblock in a grand [piano] and repairing or replacing the soundboard. In the action, rebuilding would include replacing the hammer heads, damper felts, and key bushings, and possibly replacing or completely overhauling other sets of parts as well. Refinishing the piano case may also be done as part of a rebuilding job. Ideally, rebuilding means putting the piano into “factory-new” condition. In practice, however, it may involve much less, depending on the needs and the value of the particular instrument, the amount of money available, and the scrupulousness of the rebuilder. The bottom line is the restringing. If a piano has not been restrung, it really cannot qualify as a rebuilt instrument. Indeed, many technicians would assert that a piano has been rebuilt only if the pinblock has been replaced.