Category Archives: Fixing my piano

This is an occasional series about my attempts to get my own piano into shape.

Saying Goodbye

I said goodbye to a friend recently. While with Yamaha in the 90′s I purchased a Yamaha concert grand…a CFIII 51GX to be precise. GX designates an experimental model and 51 designates the series. The 51 was a design experiment … Continue reading

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Tuning part 2

A single piano key sets into motion a set of 3 strings, all set in motion by the same hammer and all tuned, ideally, to the exact same pitch. This collection of 3 strings is called a unison. One usually … Continue reading

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Fixing my piano – now the work begins

My Yamaha CFIIIS came back from PianoWorks in Atlanta and was installed in Charleston. It was very nicely strung with new pinblock and treble bridge cap. Flawless delivery to Charleston sounding very good on arrival. Good is relative, of course. … Continue reading

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Now I know how people got sucked in by Madoff

I should have known better, but I got screwed by a piano rebuilder in Yonkers. He came recommended by a friend who should know. Originally I just needed my piano restrung, a pretty straight ahead job if you’re a restringer … Continue reading

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“Why does it take so long…?”

Oh my dear, you understand me but you don’t understand the nature of piano technology. I took a good wack at making progress on my piano. I fine tuned the key level, then went over the hammer line, drop and … Continue reading

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Stretching (not Yoga)

I’ve owned a Reyburn Cyber Tuner for the last year. Pretty cool little device and very informative to let you know what is going on when one tunes a piano. I’m far from being one of those egg head electronic … Continue reading

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Maybe I’ll say one more thing…

I worked for for Bosendorfer during the Kimball years.  That, in my opinion, was a much less logical combination than Bosendorfer and Yamaha and there were plenty of jokes (Kimball-dorfers, Bosen-balls). But, in fact, Kimball was a wonderful steward for … Continue reading

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Rules to live by.

Always, (always) close your punching box.

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Christmas in July?

You could also say this is in the “my eyes were bigger than my stomach” category. I got tool obsessed while at the PTG convention in Kansas City and ordered a bunch of stuff from both Schaff and PianoTek. I’ve … Continue reading

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hammer replacement

I’ve developed good concert prep kind of skills; regulation, voicing, finding and fixing noise, working under time pressure etc. What I am NOT is a rebuilder. I’ve voiced new hammers from scratch alot, but I really haven’t had much experience … Continue reading

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