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The obvious repair is a broken string. Some pianos never break a string, but we have to accept that
it does happen, and sometimes during tuning. A good string can be raised more than a tone before it
breaks, so I will not accept responsibility.
A tenor or treble string (plane steel) can normally be
replaced on the spot, but, despite all efforts to stretch it at the time of replacement, it will still stretch and
therefore drop in pitch over the ensueing weeks. The best solution is to tune it high and mute it until it has
settled, but that is not always a sensible option.
A bass string (copper wound) needs making to specification so is likely to take a week. If the strings are old
a brand new string might stand out. In this case it may be possible to repair the string by knotting a new end. It
is recommended to replace both strings of a bicord, but I think that a bit of hammer shaping usually sorts out the
inequalities of the strings.
Do not continue playing a piano for long with a broken string, especially a bass bicord. It will damage the
hammer, and the twisting shock could damage its pivot (flange and centre) or even snap the shank. |
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These hammer felts are quite badly compressed. Nevertheless, if this is the first attempt they can
probably be refaced. Compressed hammer heads have too much felt in contact with the string,
which alters the harmonics. Refaced hammer heads have the original shape, so will give a better
tone, but they are harder than when new so they will give a brighter tone. Toning (voicing, to moderate
the brightness) is recommended for refaced hammers. I would expect
to take the action away to reface. The piano will need regulating afterwards (including toning). |
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These hammers are beyond hope. One has been refaced just to show you the effect (the cleanest,
and now the smallest, one),
but if I did that to a treble hammer you would be down to the wood. So they need replacing.
Again the action needs to be
taken away, and the piano will need regulating afterwards. |
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A broken hammer shank can usually be replaced on site, but it is chargeable. |
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Loose tuning pins are a major cause of pianos going out of tune quickly. The
wrest plank (the wooden support for the pins) wears and dries out. The offending pins eventually get
so loose that the string cannot hold tune at all. Replacing the wrest plank is such a major job that
large numbers of very loose pins spells the death of the piano. However, loose pins can be tightened
as they occur. It can be done during a tuning, but it takes a while, so there needs to be time and I
charge. There is a danger of breaking the string at the beckett (where it enters the hole in the pin),
which would be your fault. If all pins are slightly loose they can usually be improved by a resin treatment, but it is not
guaranteed to work, so I do it at just more than cost with no guarantee. |
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Just for interest, this is an Evestaff Mini drop-action piano (less than 3 feet high) in a pub having three loose tuning pins
replaced. |
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The Keyboard |
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Very small chips on the key edge can be repaired. Replacing individual coverings can be difficult
to obtain a match. This piano needs all the coverings replaced, which means that I have to take all
the keys away for at least two days. You will need to consider whether you want a brilliant
white glossy finish. This piano has off-white plastic coverings.
Ivories can be re-glued, but the join will always be visible. I have a small stock of second-hand
ivories, but it is very difficult to find a colour and pattern match as well as a size match for any
lost ivory coverings. |
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These keys from E upwards are leaning severely. These notes need to be hit hard, and they have gone out of regulation. |
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You can see that the felt has worn away on the left side of the balance pins, and F has split. The felt bushings need
replacing.
The felt needs to be held in place while the glue dries. |
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A grand piano this time, with the hammers removed from the action so that I could extract this split F# key for repair.. |
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The damage was caused by a corroding lead weight (removed) |
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Action repairs
This action was brought in because some notes could not be relied upon to
play. |
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In the photo some hammers have been left in. These are the templates to help me re-align the hammers to the strings
when I replace them. The final aligning cannot be done until the action is returned to the piano. |
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but present in this photo. |
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The tapes needed replacing, because otherwise I would have to try to re-install the action with all the treble
levers drooping as in the photo above. It would be impossible to do that without causing some damage. (It is the
damper springs that are holding up the lower levers, but not high enough without the tapes.)
Tapes do offer some help in pulling the hammers back ready to strike again, but the main component for this
purpose is the butt spring, which is missing in the photo on the left (along with a broken tape),
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A full action restoration would involve a lot more work including replacing the felt and leather. This photo
shows badly worn leathers. One is on the verge of causing a noisy (clicking) action, while the other will already
be causing unreliable holding of the hammer in check while the string is sounding. |
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This is the finished action. The butt spring is visible behind hammer butt number 31.
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