Services include:

Piano Tuning, In-Home Repairs, Replacing Keytops, Voicing, Regulation, Action Rebuilding, Re-Stringing, Refinishing and Humidity Control System Installation

When I service a piano for the first time, I ask my client to tell me about their piano. They often tell me problems that they have been having that are troubling to them much, much more than the piano being out of tune. These problems often can be corrected in the home and require a minimal amount of time. Most common problems involve:

Sticky Keys, Noises that shouldn’t be there, Pedals that don’t work well or are squeaking, Dusty soundboards needing cleaning, Broken strings needing to be replaced or it just needs a tuning.

Piano tuning is both a science and an art.  The science is calculating the best octave stretch for conditions and how the piano is made.  I use a Reyburn CyberTuner in my tunings. The Reyburn Cybertuner is known for being the most preferred digital tuning device professional piano tuners.  The art of piano tuning is using a good ear and a God-given love of music to leave my clients with a piano that is well in-tune.

I am a left handed tuner and utilize the Dan Levitan tuning lever. This lever causes the least amount of twisting which makes the tuning very stable and able to last.

Please visit the Video page of my website for more information on how I tune pianos.

Or Call: 763-438-9976

Replacing Keytops
A significant portion of the my shop business is replacing ivory keytops, replacing or refinishing black sharp keys, rebushing natural and sharp (replacing worn felt).  I have created a video of my process for replacing ivory keytops using patented Oslund Key Repair machines – video located on the Videos page.

Voicing
Voicing improves tonal qualities of both new and older pianos. Voicing softens hard hammers allowing them to create a warmer tonal quality preferred by the pianist. Steps involved in voicing involve reshaping worn hammers, working with hammers for the most appropriate hardness or softness by using steam or alcohol to bring out the string’s best tone.

Regulation
Regulating pianos involves adjusting parts that through wear have gone out of alignment.  Regulating piano action parts can involve simple adjustments made quickly in the home during tuning or when more work is required, taking the action to my shop and completing adjustments and or repairs.

Action Rebuilding
Action rebuilding involves replacing worn parts of the piano’s mechanical operation. This work is done in my shop.  I replace parts and adjust them before replacing the action in the piano.

Restringing
Re-Stringing involves removing old strings and pins from the piano and replacing with new strings and pins.  This can be done for either grand or upright pianos.  See the article below on restringing for more details as well as photographs.

Refinishing
I refinish pianos that I am restoring in my shop.  I am always looking for pianos that I can acquire to rebuild/restore as well as completing a restoration process for my clients on their individual piano.  Pianos are refinished in my shop after they have been restrung and action parts have been replaced.  Call me to set up an appointment for generating a quote for restoring  your piano to include refinishing.

Humidity Control Systems
Humidity Control Systems are used to lengthen the life of fine instruments. What they do is to maintain a relative humidity (RH) in the piano of 45%. The system humidifies and dehumidifies the piano to maintain that RH 45% year round. I am a certified-installer for the world’s leading piano humidity control system, the Piano Life Saver system. I am a certified installation technician for the Piano Life Saver corporation. If your piano is not holding a tune, this may be the perfect solution. Ask for a quote.

Or Call: 763-438-9976

Piano Restoration
Restoring pianos involves first moving your piano to my shop. In my shop I then can install/replace tuning pins, piano strings, resurface keys with new keytops, bush keys with new felt and replace and regulate piano parts to include hammers, hammer shanks, wippens, shanks, knuckles and dampers.

Sticking Keys
Lots of ‘little’ things cause sticky keys and most often these keys can be fixed with a little adjusting of the key felt the balance pin. Sometimes ‘sticky keys’ are caused by broken parts which need to be repaired or replaced. Broken parts are also often repaired in the home for a minimal expense.

Noises
Noises are often caused by screws being loose, hammers loose, damper wire pressing on the string and an occasional buzzing caused by something near the piano that just needs to be moved. I work together with my clients to search and locate the causes for these noises, then discuss what needs to be done to eliminate them.

Pedal Repairs
Pedal parts wear out and often replacing leathers, tightening or replacing screws and felts will often correct most pedal problems.

Dusty Soundboards
I’m often asked to clean the soundboards of grand piano because they are so dusty. This job normally takes between 1 and 1 1/2 hours and I have special tools that remove dust and polish the soundboard close to ‘like new’ condition.

Broken Strings
I carry wire string to replace broken plain wire strings. If a bass or tenor wound wire wound string is broken, I recommend it be replaced with a string that matches the broken string’s size and tonal qualities. The Mapes String Repair Company does an excellent job duplicating strings for me. After receiving the duplicated string from them I then set up an appointment and replace and re-tune your piano.

Or Call: 763-438-9976

Owner’s Guide to Piano Repair and Maintenance
I’ve supplied these PDFs for your convenience.

Or Call: 763-438-9976

Or Call: 763-438-9976