Piano Tuning, Repair and Restoration

Tuning

Tuning your piano is essential to maintaining its sound quality and prolonging its life span. Fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and even playing, can affect the tension of the piano’s strings, leading to variations in pitch and tone. It is therefore recommended to have your piano tuned at least twice a year (concerts or recordings please enquire) to improve its stability and create optimal playing and listening conditions.

Regulation

As with any machine, the mechanical components of a piano may wear and shift as it is played, and as environmental factors vary, the process of making sure all these parts are working harmoniously for optimum tone and feel, is called regulation. Examples of issues arising from poor regulation are sticking keys, notes ringing on, lack of repetition and uneven touch. It's recommended to regulate a piano every few years depending on its usage.

Repair and Restoration

In addition to working as a self-employed technician I am in partnership with Glasgow Piano City where the workshop can undertake larger repair and restoration jobs such as action renovation, full or part re-stringing, and keyboard reconditioning, including works on early keyboard instruments (e.g Harpsichords and Virginals) and rarer instruments such as the Dulcitone. Most common repairs can be done on the road but in some cases it may be necessary to bring the instrument into the workshop.

100 years ago jobs and training were provided by over 300 piano factories in the UK, today there are just 2. This is representative of the tragic decline of the piano industry in the UK, whereby the majority of those qualified to work on and maintain the pianos in the UK are moving abroad to places with more factories and opportunities, or about to finish their working lives here with very few successors. The last place to train in Scotland closed 24 years ago so I am in a unique position having found mentors in Roy O’Neil and Anne Burton, willing to train me to their high standards such that I may continue to protect and restore these heirloom objects before they exhibit further deterioration; and by doing so I mean to support piano playing in Scotland and the UK.

Background...