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In general, I need the following when tuning:
- A quiet space. I can’t hear dissonance when the background noise is high. When using the electronic tuner, the microphone also needs to be able to “hear” the vibrations without background noise for the most accurate tune.
- Space. If I need to take the action out of a baby grand or grand, I need to put it somewhere to work on it. In general, if you have sticky keys, misaligned keys, broken keys, etc., I’ll need to take the action out to fix the problem. In a grand or baby grand, the action is the width of the piano and about 2 feet deep.
- Light. I’ll bring some lights, but the room should be bright enough for me to see what I’m working on.
- Electricity. I’ll bring a vacuum to work on the bowels of the piano. You’d be surprised at what I can find in the bottom of a piano.
Something else I’ve ran across: broken hammers. In general, the hammer and the function of the hammer between pianos is similar. However, different manufacturers have their own “tweaks” on hammer design and what they view as the “best” hammer. If you have a common piano (i.e., Yamaha, Steinway, Baldwin, etc.) I can usually source a replacement hammer if needed. If you’ve got an older piano (i.e., I have a Howard piano built in the 1930s) with a manufacturer that has gone through several changes of ownership, I may not be able to source a replacement hammer.
Couple of option here. I *may* be able to repair it. Heavy emphasis on the *may*. The other option…I move it. I’m not a fan of it, but when in a pinch I’ll take the broken or malfunctioning hammer swap it with the hammer from the top keys; they are used <1% of the time when playing, so in almost all cases you won’t notice. Again, not my preferred option, but in the absence of being able to source or manufacture a replacement…it’s a valid option to get you playing again.
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