[pianotech] Advice

[Thomas Cole]

There was a story, written up in the Journal I think, about a spinet 
piano in a church that was hard to play one Sunday. When the tuner 
arrived some days later, the keys were no longer hard to push but the 
tech discovered a snake skin inside. :-)

Tom Cole

David Boyce wrote:
> > She has in her mind that the felts (i'm assuming the punchings 
> and/or key rebushing) need replacing, because the piano is getting 
> harder to play. 
>  
> It would seem absolutely impossible to accurately judge matters 
> adequately over the telephone.  You could however get some idea in a 
> phone conversation as to what she meant by "harder to play".  It might 
> mean "heavier" or could mean "loose, rattling and unreliable" or "poor 
> repetition makes it hard to play".  Whatever she says on the phone, 
> you really need to be there for her to demonstrate what she means, and 
> for you to feel for yourself, and show her the various worn felt parts 
> etc.  If she's a good customer, couldn't you do this for free if 
> you're in the area?
>  
> I don't think it can be key bushings really. Worn key bushings would 
> not, I think, lead to any phenomenon that a customer would describe as 
> "hard to play".
>  
> Best,
>  
> David.