Piano Tuner in Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, Glasgow, the west of Scotland and beyond.
Tel: 07714959806 David@piano.plus.com
Schubert Sonata in A Major Allergro Moderato.mp3
This page contains further technical articles.
Damper felt replacement can be well worth doing. As they age, the little pads of felt that stop strings from sounding get hardened and work less effectively, as well as being noisy in operation. The Technical Info 1 page has an article explaining grand piano damper replacement. This article shows the process of replacing the damper felts on an upright piano.
The Piano Strings page of this site explains that re-stringing on its own is rarely worthwhile. This article describes the process, generally carried out as part of a complete refurbishment.
The Technical Info 1 page has an article on re-covering the white keys. Here is the article describing what can be done to restore or replace the black keys (called the "sharps" in the piano trade).
Piano keys are held in position on a wooden frame on which they rest (on special cloth washers in the middle and front, and a felt strip at the back) by two metal pins which run up through the wood of each key. The central rail pins are round in profile and the front rail pins oval; sometimes called bat pins. As part of a general restoration of a very fine quality older piano, it may be necessary to replace these; the process is described here.
Pianos are sometimes encountered which have brass rails holding the action flanges in place. This is less usual in the UK and was more a feature of older American pianos. Just for background interest, this article is included which shows repairs to brass rails.
In an upright piano, hammers are helped to rebound from the strings by a little spring. These can break with age and while the action will still work, the response becomes less precise. This Newsletter describes the process of replacing the Hammer Butt Springs in an older American upright action.
The Newsletter above shows the kind of arrangement common in older American uprights. In British and European pianos it's more common to find the type of Butt Spring that is integral with each Hammer Butt, engaging with a cord loop on the Hammer Flange. The article below describes repairs to this kind of arrangement.
