previous tunings and repairs
A beautiful Kawai K500 for tuning and investigation into frequently sticking keys and tuning instability.
Fitment of a Dampp Chaser Humidity System to Kawai K500 - Helps to alleviate issues associated with high humidity environments.
Easing sticking front rail key bushings on a old school Barratt & Robinson piano!
Carefully vacuuming the key bed. I use a multi tube adaptor on the hose to avoid sucking up all the felt washers!.
Keys being refitted after cleaning has been completed. All keys are checked and lubricated with PTFE powder and eased where necessary. This process always achieves great results.
Project Fazer; The dismantling begins.....
A customer's Fazer piano arrives for a case refurbishment and full regulation.
This piano is going to be prepared for refinishing to satin black
Project Fazer; Keys now removed, key bed will be thoroughly cleaned and all balance rail and front rail pins burnished.
Project Fazer; Case work in primer. This was left for two weeks to fully cure before top coats were applied.
Fazer project; Keys refitted and levelled, regulation work completed
Fazer project; The finished article! Hours of work but a very satisfying job completed.
Project Fazer; A fresh new set of pedal felts installed, looking very smart! Lastly, the pedals were polished and refitted.
A rather dirty key bed on this 1956 Danemann piano. Removal of all 88 notes to begin and then a thorough vacuum and burnishing of all the front and balance rail pins to follow. An incredibly worthwhile service for your piano; There's a lot that goes on under those piano keys and when they're clean, lubricated and adjusted it can transform the playability of the instrument
A rather interesting Cramer drop action piano that I visited to tune back in September, Despite only having bi-chord (Just two strings) fitted throughout the treble section, it sounded really nice once it was tuned! This was another recipient of the keyboard service, the customer was incredibly pleased with the end result. An intriguing, yet complex piano to work on.
Spacing hammers. On older used pianos,I frequently find that the hammers are not striking the strings square on. This is part of the process which is followed by hammer refacing.
Another nice Danemann piano. My customer was getting complaints from neighbours about his late night playing. We agreed that I would install a Celeste rail silencing felt, this would enable him to play the piano at unsociable hours. A very time consuming job, but well worth the effort!
The completed celeste rail conversion. Enabling/disabling the silencing felt is carried out by simply moving a lever under the key bed of the instrument.
A bundle of 'victims' from a Barrett & Robinson Piano from Oasis Academy in Coulsdon, you should see the piano keys.......
A fairly typical school piano. Broken hammers and keys stabbed with a compass!!
The nylon adjustable retainer holding both the bolt from the pedal and the cable to the celeste rail had failed. the thread was also stripped on the bolt. To get the job done, I had to manufacture a replacement from aluminium. Happy customer.,
Carrying out some voicing to a Waldstein piano. This involves 'needling the hammers' at various stages of the hammer to release the fibres and alter the tone of that note when played.
