Piano Repair – What Needs Doing?
So, my piano is in need of a repair. It’s a Zender, I don’t really know how old, we didn’t buy it new & it’s been here all my life, so is definitely 16+.
I don’t know much about how pianos actually work (apart from the basics obviously) so was wondering if I could state the problems with it & then someone could advise me what repairs need doing & who might do them for me.
So, the problems:
It’s sound is too ‘bright’, to the extent that gradually it’s turning into a ‘honky-tonk’ piano. It lacks the softer, less overly-resonant sound of a good piano.
Sometimes the hammer bounces back on the string creating a ‘double note’ when I’ve only hit the key once.
It’s terrible at playing quietly & is very light to push the keys. (but perhaps this isn’t something repairable & is only becoming more of a problem as I become better & more aware of the sounds I making).
Ok thanks!
August 24th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Too bright means that it needs a good voicing. As the piano is used & as it ages, the hammer felts become compacted & grooved. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of needling; sometimes filing & needling, & sometimes the hammers need to be replaced. Depending on the state of the rest of the instrument the work may or may not be worth doing.
“Hammers bouncing back” Double striking … the hammers aren’t being checked by the catchers. This could be a simple adjustment, or it could be worn out buckskins … again, unknown cost without an assessment of the instrument. Could also be repinning all the whippen, jack & hammer flanges.
“Terrible playing quietly.” … part of that might be voicing, part of it may be poor scaling or action design. If this is a spinet, chances are that it has a drop-action. Drop actions (actions that are below the level of the keyboard) are notorious for being hard or impossible to regulate. If it’s a full-size upright or direct-blow console action, it’s more likely to be greatly helped by voicing & regulation. A good part of not being able to play quietly may be caused by the double-striking when playing softly so you naturally compensate by playing with enough velocity for the hammers to catch.
Reweighting the keyboard. Yeah, sure it could be done though I’ve never done it. I’s potentially the cheapest of the “repairs”, but at that point you’ve really got to start considering another piano.
… It sounds like you’ll never be satisfied with this one.
August 25th, 2009 at 2:03 am
You sound like you need a good technician to take a look at it.
If the sound is too bright, this is usually caused by the hammer felts becoming to compressed & hard. To fix this is a very skill job. The felt has to be pricked with a needle to soften it & get the right tone.
Hammer bounce is a fairly common problem & is fairly easy to fix.
Finally, it sounds as though the action needs regulation. The keys should have a certain weight to depress them & should be progressive in terms of getting variability of loudness – again this is a regulation issue.
August 25th, 2009 at 7:59 am
It sounds like the piano needs to be regulated & restrung.
First off is this an upright or a grand piano, as the problems & fixes differ.
the sound being too bright can have many factors.
over time the hammers will harden, the quat bar can move, strings stretch out over the years. these & few other factors make the piano brighter.
The fix: restring the piano, either needle the hammers or have them reshaped.
The hammer bounces back & double-strikes.
this is a result of 5 regulations: back-check height & alignment, let off & drop. let off & drop should each be regulated at 2mm. It’s also possible the hammer flanges are too loose & that hammer height is off.
It’s terrible at playing quietly & is very light to push the keys.
this could also be a side effect of the previous issue. it would indicate that the flange bushings are too loose to give you adequate control. to fix this have the wippens & hammers re-pinned. It also possible that the keys are weighted out of regulation, though since changing key weight is time-consuming, expensive & difficult to undo make sure you really want to do this.
If the piano hasn’t had anything other than a standard tuning in the past 16+ years then it’s time to get a complete action regulation. a complete action regulation in my shop runs about $800-$1200 (we charge $50/hour plus materials for shop work, & the whole thing usually takes about 20-25 hours of work)