Piano repairs/tuning

lindopski_2

What should I be looking at for Piano Tuning cost wise, I have never had it done but have been given a ropey old piano.
Its an upright and looks as though it was thrown out of a pub window after living in the bar for 100 years then landed outside thrown in the back of a van and brought to my house.
Its out of tune and has at least two broken sticks/hammers ??
I dont even know where to start.

taliesin

"I have been given a ropey old piano"

Most likely, you paid over the odds for it.

Fixing pianos is skilled, time-consuming, expensive, work. Professional fees for a simple tuning, assuming the instrument is in good condition and close to tune, typically start at around £50. For an instrument that's obviously out of tune, I would ask for an estimate before committing, but would be surprised to hear less than £100 asked for, and would not be surprised by a lot more.

Replacing hammers isn't terribly hard or expensive, but it sounds like your instrument may well have a lot more problems that need sorting out.

I was fortunate enough to get a couple of lessons covering the basics of tuning a few years ago, and since then have managed to keep my own piano in trim between major tunings - although the shop I originally bought the piano from refused to send their tuner again once he found I was "tinkering" with it.

This is MSE after all, so if you have a good ear and want to have a go at tuning it yourself, a basic tuning kit - simple wrench (also referred to as a lever or "hammer"), muting felt, wedges and tuning fork - can be found on ebay for £25 or so. You do need to be sure that the wrench will fit the tuning pins on your piano - the kits usually come supplied with one of the most common sizes, but if your piano's are a different size, you may need a professional wrench with a set of sockets, which could set you back £100 or so. There are books on amateur tuning at Amazon or instructions around the web, but be warned that the tuning process is nowhere near as easy as it looks and it is very easy to strip the seats of the pins, after which that string won't hold tune. The ebay suppliers can often provide parts such as spare hammers, and the forks for pricking them ("voicing") too.

On the other hand, if you decide amateur piano tuning's not for you, there is usually quite a bit of copper in piano strings, and obviously iron in the frame, so you could ask a scrap dealer whether he would take your gift away for free.

lindopski_2

So If I get on Ebay I should be able to replace the hammers and sticks holding them easily enough then ?
I am reasonably techie but this is wooden tech so a bit different to what I am used to
Its not totally out of tune but its certainly very flat and I reckon £100 to get it up to scratch isnt too bad really though I would have to save up a bit to do it - and again £100 is not certain the guy might say £200 mmm
A tough call indeed, I think its one that may have to simmer for a while but I think in the long run I will get it done as I love the sound of a real piano and wouldnt mind learning how to play properly maybe one day on it.
I cant afford 14k for a brand new steinway

Cheers for the info though at least I have some Idea now - its no wonder people chuck them out all the time, poor Pianos.

taliesin

I wouldn't like you to run away with the idea that £100 or so will fix all your problems - that would be a minimum realistic charge for "lifting" a tune - in effect going through the instrument twice. A first pass, even if every string is accurately tuned, only brings it close to tune, because the tension in every string affects the tension in every other one, so a second pass is needed unless the piano has previously been very close to tune. Each pass takes a professional an hour or so at typically £40 per hour - add some travelling time to see where £100 goes. (A full pass takes me at least a full afternoon - which is why I've only ever done it twice).

Old pianos, even ones in good condition, often will not hold tune at concert pitch and are deliberately tuned down by a few cents, sometimes even a quarter of a tone. And there's always the possibility that some of the strings have been tuned by a numpty who has enlarged the holes into which the pins are set making them loose. So your tuner may say its pitch can't be raised.

It sounds like there may be a lot to fix on your piano. There are a dozen or so separate parts in the action for every key. It's easy enough to fix the shanks of the hammers - repairers use thin metal sleeves that they slip over the two broken halves with a little glue - but you probably have other broken parts such as backcheck wires or bridle straps that need to be fixed for the action to work properly. Even if there is nothing broken, if someone has poured a beer down the back of the piano, the felts and straps will be matted and won't have the required "give" in them, so there will be lots of items that need replacement.

Most of the folks advertising on Ebay are either based in the States or sell only a basic tuning kit. You can find a list of UK parts suppliers at http://www.piano-tuners.org/piano_parts.html - there aren't many, and most of them are only willing to deal with trade customers but they list a firm in Hull that says it will supply amateurs.

Really, your best bet is to get a repair technician (not just a tuner - some tuners will do minor repairs, but many of them prefer just to do tunings) to look at the piano and give you an estimate.

Football_Widow_2

We had an old piano from Oxfam that we had regularly tuned for £35. It was fairly old and the pins needed changing (which the piano tuner would have done). We found the piano tuner through an experienced piano teacher.

ada1988

I think the requirement of repair a piano is very high,
you may need ask someone who knows music and piano very well to help you dealing with that.

googler

Google for "piano tuner tuning technician NNN" where NNN is your home town, city or county.

Phone or e-mail one or all of them for rates, advice etc. Google for local piano teachers and ask for their recommendation for tuning and/or repair folk.

I'm in East Scotland, and my local tuner takes £50 for a simple tuning, but that's on a piano that's in good condition, already close to in tune (having only drifted slightly from the previous tuning), and less than 10 miles from the tuner's base of operation. That doesn't include any allowance for repair.

MELLA_2

Our piano tuner costs £60. This is in north east england.