A piano owner wants the best care for their instrument and service which preserves its quality and brings out its best musical characteristics. I’ll list here a few topics involving piano service that have come up in conversations with my customers. Be sure to ask me any questions you might have.
The tuning pins of a piano are anchored in a block of wood called the pin block. With a good home humidity environment and quality servicing and tuning, you should expect the pin block to have a lifetime of at least 100 years, though sadly that is often not the case.
I follow a set of precautions to encourage longevity:
I tune pianos using the international standard known as Equal Temperament, as do most other piano tuners. My aural tuning style automatically incorporates procedures to adjust for natural inharmonicities of vibrating strings, so no additional tweaking of intervals is necessary. If you ever consider a non-standard tuning temperament for your piano, I suggest you contact me for some discussion materials, including some YouTube Web sites that explain and demonstrate the differences.
This is an important topic for any piano. I tend to follow a "conservative" approach, resisting piano-specific humidifying systems in home environments that are stressful during winter months, and instead recommend alternatives that we can discuss in person. Summer de-humidifying solutions for pianos are easier to address, but nowadays most AC home systems in our area include good de-humidification that obviates such need.
Some of the Steinway pianos that I service were manufactured between 1962 and 1982, so the action parts in them utilize teflon action centers. I am trained in their maintenance, along with possessing replacement parts. Teflon was an excellent Steinway-unique invention, but with a humidity "clicking" flaw. Contrary to the opinion of many, with proper training they are easy to maintain (when very occasionally necessary). They basically “last forever” as Steinway intended.
It is not uncommon for a piano, including the best, to develop one or more cracks in its soundboard, particularly when stressed by humidity extremes. Sometimes this condition calls for service attention when the soundboard (at the crack) is also in the process of coming unglued from ribs that support their crown.
Rest assured that most such pianos that I encounter can be fixed quite readily with a couple of hours of work in the home, using screws to re-bond the soundboard (at the cracks) to the ribs.
Some of my customers have pianos that were built before the 1960’s and therefore usually have ivory key tops. I am trained on their maintenance; do not assume that just because your piano is old that its keys need to be recovered in a version of plastic if some develop cracks or come unglued and such. There is a lot that can be done to preserve an existing set of ivory keys and continue to enjoy their look and desirable feel.
Need professional piano care? Contact Piano Cares to discuss your piano's specific needs and schedule a consultation.