Evaluating an Acoustic piano before purchase

I've often been asked about the nuts and bolts of assessing a piano, even before a technician lays his hands on it. (A Registered pro will explore facets of internal assembly while my journey of discovery is intuitively tactile and tonal, forged on behalf of students searching for an alternative to the digital universe.) The…

Piano Maintenance: 48 hours of pain and anguish!

What was seemingly a straightforward search and destroy mission surrounding a clicking note, mushroomed suddenly into a PSTD level catastrophe. Pianists, so viscerally tied to their beloved musical partners, can be catapulted over the edge when something unexpected occurs. In fact two post-clicking note repair events had transpired that threatened my mental health. 1) After…

The second studio grand gets a tune-up

With dizzying cable wires swimming in all directions, connected to a horizontal mounted overhead web cam, partnered with a side-mounted one, the spotlight is on my vintage Steinway grand. A second piano to its right goes unnoticed. But once a LIVE lesson begins, the Baldwin Hamilton 1929 takes center stage, requiring at least a pitch…

A Conversation about machine and ear tuning (and more) with Israel Stein, Registered Piano Technician

I couldn't resist an opportunity to immerse myself in an engaging dialog with Israel Stein, RPT, as he was tuning my piano. Regaled far and wide by a community of pianists and teachers as he amasses awards bestowed by his peers at the National Piano Technician's Guild, Stein remains thoroughly dedicated to what seems like…

Piano Repair: Taking the noise out of my pedal!

Israel Stein, Registered Piano Technician, whose feats of repair have earned him national recognition, descended upon my humble abode like the fix-it fairy, and banished my sustain pedal noise forever! (Count on it for the years remaining in my playing lifetime) Trouble-shooting as he went along, Stein diagnosed the problem and followed through in graduated…

Piano Maintenance– About hammers: all or partial replacement? (Video)

When my Baldwin Hamilton 1929 grand underwent exploratory surgery in the capable hands of Mark Schecter, RPT, I had some pointed questions. Given that the piano had a glassy-sounding upper treble due to worn down hammers, would installing a partial set of new ones be a reasonable route to take? Mark didn't think so, and…

Assessing a piano prior to purchase

This can be an iffy universe, depending on whom is hired to do the new or used piano evaluation. I had one negative experience, paying a tech who basically had a commercial tie to the seller, who was himself a technician buying and selling pianos. Nevertheless, I still embraced my "new" Baldwin Hamilton's character and…

Piano Maintenance Teaser: Graying ivories and a squeaky note

This is a video preview of what will follow later today when several uploads related to my Baldwin piano's weekend "regulation" are lined up on You Tube. As a start, one of the problems plaguing my recently acquired Hamilton grand 1929, a.k.a "blind date piano," was a grayish discoloration on every ivory key. In my…

My blind date with a “new” piano–

I'm meeting a 5'2 Baldwin Hamilton in El Cerrito today, Sunday, and I'll videotape the introduction for posting on You Tube. This is the piano that had a verboten phone interview with a follow-up long distance tech eval. Good report, but the verdict is still in my hands when I run my fingers over its…

Piano Interviews by phone (Don’t copy me)

It's a rainy day and I'm braced for a shower of criticism. Just consider a few of my piano phone interviews in the private party marketplace. I confess that on occasion, I've undermined my own staunch recommendations to prospective buyers as follows: PLAY THE PIANO UNDER CONSIDERATION! IF YOU LIKE ITS TONE, TOUCH, TIMBRE, GET…