Tips for Restoration of your Piano

Piano restoration is a tedious task. The mechanics of a piano is very complex and restoring it makes it difficult and time consuming. The process of refinishing the exterior wood, restoring interior, and tuning the keys, all together take hundreds of hours to accomplish. However, the grandeur of a piano is kept and even enhanced through piano restoration.

Some people treat their pianos as treasures. Each unit is uniquely different from the other. The wood materials, plates, strings, pins, soundboards and dampers are made one of a kind for each instrument. A lot of piano owners see pianos as investments, not just financially but also as an emotional investment for its sentimental value that is earned over the years.

This is why the meticulous task of Piano restoration is often times preferable than to buying a new one. The cost that is spent on piano restoration is oftentimes just a fraction of the cost of purchasing a new unit. The benefits of piano restoration include preserving the valuable parts of the piano. For example, the antiquity of the piano’s case may be unavailable in today’s market. Piano restoration provides the option to keep the original case as it is a common knowledge that the quality of materials used in most old pianos are far more superior to that of today

It is, however, important to note that pianos may not be worth restoring if the harp is cracked or the cabinetry is in really bad shape. It is also noteworthy that the most beneficial candidates for piano restorations are those that come from pre war era. These instruments are considered as heirlooms and are best kept instead of replaced.
Restoring the exterior wood to the original look of a pre-war era piano, however, is a very difficult task. It is important to use the perfect matching materials because many lacquers and paints may create imperfections such as unmatched patterns from the original wood.

Restoration of the interior of a piano improves sound quality for pianos that have lost proper tone from years of use and non-use. New strings and hammers are repaired and are replaced. The sound quality must be improved as this is the most valuable result of piano restoration.

Piano restoration also often requires the replacement of hammer shanks and flanges, whippens, damper heads, springs, screws, the damper lift rod, hammer rail cloth, screw punching, and hammer butt springs.

Regulation of the piano ensures the very best tone for your piano. The piano is repeatedly tuned by adding high tension to the point that concert pitch is achieved. This process also includes refining the damper regulation. Note that the new strings always stretch. it should be tuned and re-tuned during this initial phase of stretching because this will help the piano stay in tune longer once the piano restoration process is complete.