UK Piano Page Piano Forum

Withindale

There are better puzzles in Christmas crackers. Pianos are tuned to equal temperament because it is the best one for all the music all pianists want to play. You might think of it as the lowest common denominator. Equal temperament on a piano is the best that the tuner can do to make the intervals s...

Withindale

Karen The experts here are going to tell you that your piano needs tuning after its move so ask the tuner to sort out that key and any other problems. Taking all the keys out could be a very high risk exercise for you if you don't know exactly what you are doing. I believe George Rogers made good pi...

Withindale

Good luck in your quest, I am sure you will find it most interesting. Piano salesmen like to make sales, of course, but I think most of them know some customers will want to try out many instruments, and come back again and again, before making a choice. I have found them very helpful. By the way wh...

Withindale

Tuners will have to comment but, for what it is worth, my take is the amount of stretch should come from the piano rather an electronic tuner, unless the piano's parameters have been measured and fed into the device. Dirk's Piano Tuner is one with software which appears to do this properly but some ...

Withindale

Unless your piano is completely beyond redemption, perhaps the first thing to do is to take a vacuum cleaner and a "feather duster" to the inside and then ask your tuner whether it could be improved by tightening up its screws and making some adjustments. You will be a little less in the d...

Withindale

You could certainly ask your tuner to tune your piano so that the c notes played in sequence sound the same as as pure c notes on say a cello. Then see if your left hand sounds in tune with your right. Have any tuners ever tried tuning a piano in strict equal temperament or just intonation frequenci...

Withindale

Jonathan, Due to something called inharmonicity, all piano tuners (human and electronic) have to stretch the octaves for the piano to sound in tune. If the octaves were not stretched it would sound out of tune. This is because the harmonics, which tuners call partials, produced by steel strings are ...

Withindale

The trick to good regulating is to go round and round getting it better each time Words of wisdom, Barrie. After a few readjustments, the piano is now fully playable and what needs to be done in the next round will soon become clear, no doubt. Don't forget,before starting grand reg,bend all the dam...

Withindale

... backache, Housemaid's knee, bad tea ... A quick question about key dip, let off and aftertouch. Sparked off by Roger Jolly's suggestion to set let off by backing off from where the hammer blocks (Complete Grand Regulation, PTG, 2004), it struck me I could do a quick initial regulation by settin...

Withindale

Richard Lipp?

Withindale

Yes indeed, Sir. Shortly after posting I came across a note by a Piano Technician in New York about spending 17 hours regulating a Steinway C and still needing to go back for some finishing touches on rep springs and dampers. Among the things he mentioned, I need to level keys, check dip, level stri...

Withindale

Thank you again Colin for your helpful advice. I've just seen this on the Hurstwood Farm site: Grand actions have changed little since the mid nineteenth century and are based on inspired work by the French entrepreneur and piano genius Erard. They are astonishly robust and versatile so that in the ...

Withindale

There are plenty of dealers selling Lippmann pianos in the UK listed on Google. They should be able to tell you about the origins of this brand and and its qualities.

Withindale

Should this be reason to be cautious? Cautious of what? Musical quality? Longevity? Resale value? From Piano Buyer: The Kemble family has been manufacturing pianos since 1911. In 1985 Kemble started making pianos for Yamaha for the European market, and in 1988 Yamaha bought a majority interest in t...

Withindale

Well done!

Did your fibres - the ones you put on some offending hammers - last until the tuning?

Withindale

Many thanks, Colin, most helpful, those numbers will keep me on the right track. The height of the white keys height is about 67 mm (with plastic replacement tops) and the key dip is about 10 mm , Everything else was way out; it's already evident that putting things back to where they should be will...

Withindale

Many thanks, Barrie, that's precisely what I need to know. The piano is an Ibach so I assume it's in your Bluthner etc. category. The depth of touch is just under 10mm, maybe 9.5mm, I'll check. 0.25mm made a big difference to the upright so I have some idea of what to look for. I'll play with a few ...

Withindale

I need to regulate a 107 year old grand piano that was restored 3 - 5 years ago. Unaccountably the action had become "graunchy" to the point of being unplayable. As a first pass I have set the let off close to the strings, increased the blow distance from less than 40 mm to about 45 mm and...

Withindale

For the record Butler and Smith moved the piano. They did an excellent job and were competitive with others who, I have no reason to doubt, would have done equally as well. If you want to schedule a precise time for collection at a distance it might be better to use a mover based near the collection...

Withindale

See http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthre ... 05013.html

Withindale

Joseph I think it's a great idea to have a pianos page but, I suspect, the prices you mention could put off many a potential pupil. You can't go far wrong with a new piano but you can do equally as well on a restricted budget with a trusted technician and low mileage instrument. By section I meant a...

Withindale

Joseph Some of your readers may not be able to afford the prices you mention for acoustic pianos. I suggest you include a section on pre-owned pianos from dealers and piano technicians who have, or know of, pianos for sale. There are two dealers within 3 miles of our village in Suffolk. One happens ...

Withindale

Many thanks, Colin. Piano Logistics can certainly do the job. I have also noticed that Mark Goodwin mentioned Piano Speed some time ago and recalled someone mentioning Butlers of Ramsey favourably.

Withindale

Can anyone recommend piano movers offering cost effective part load services between Scotland and London/East Anglia? Thank you.

Withindale

Go out and play as many as you can to get a feel for the market. Do a bit of homework. Look out for a lightly used piano from a good manufacturer that plays well.

Withindale

Is it something like this? http://www.klavierstimmen-muenchen.de/img/schimmel_schwarz_innen.jpg or this? Schimmel.jpg If so perhaps the damper rod has been forced back towards the frame by some movement of the damper lever between the pedal and the rod. What stops the end of the waggling sideways fr...

Withindale

Any suggestions? Dealer doesn't want to know as it's a year out of warranty.

I'd ask Schimmel too if the dealer is not interested:
http://www.schimmel-piano.de/info-email_en.php.

Ian

Withindale

... or, reading the article, to London cabbies using sat nav? Ian Don't they have to do the knowledge any more Barrie Yes they do. All-London drivers' Knowledge is based on learning 320 routes (or runs). This will help them learn the 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks and places of interest in the...

Withindale

... or, reading the article, to London cabbies using sat nav?

Ian

Withindale

I agree with New Age. A few weeks ago I went to our local piano dealer, at our tuner's suggestion, largely to see how touch weights compared. Alongside some shiny Chinese pianos there were a couple of used Yamaha U3s at £3,250 plus and a couple of Knights at £1,750, one not used much. If I'd had to ...

Withindale

Robert The new Blüthner Model S Professional Concert Upright at 145 cm goes a step beyond the Steingraeber. One for the boys to go for when they have got their grades and made their fortunes. http://www.bluthnerpiano.com/bms.html. Yes, the 1925 Schiedmayer has a good bass and a fine tone even with i...

Withindale

Robert You make an interesting point about the size of the room and height of the piano. I have a 140 cm upright in a 10' 8" x 6' 6" room with a tile floor. It is not overpowering though I do not play it as loudly as possible. The main reason I'd be interested in a new Kawai is its Milleni...

Withindale

From what you say, Jonathan, some or all of the hammers could do with softening rather than reshaping. I've read some hammers produced 20 years were on the hard side, depending on where they were made. If it were my piano I'd have the strings checked for seating, hammer alignment, etc. before embark...

Withindale

This trick may be useful for you . I tried it just today. One or two harsh notes had a cross between a twang and a miaow. I used a piece of black felt for this. I teased the black felt fibres out of the edge with an old wood sanding tool .(Metal bonded to plastic ). It has minute teeth and is a bit...

Withindale

Just in case there`s a difference , is toning the same as voicing ? Voicing is an old Harpsichord term to shape the quilts to get a different sound by emphasizing certain harmonics in pianos its altering the shape of the hammer to get the same effect. Toning is Harding or softening the hammers alte...

Withindale

Bach wrote the 48 Preludes and Fugues to prove that ET worked, actually. Gill Are you 100% sure? I am looking forward to the day when I am proficient enough to play some of Bach's Preludes and Fugues and trying them in a Well Temperament. See Nigel Taylor's pages for an example of an alternative vi...

Withindale

I suppose its potential for tuning, voicing and regulation should be an important factor in choosing a medium grand or any piano. Coincidentally ChickGrand has justed posted about the potential of Chinese pianos in this thread about Brodmann and Ritmuller: http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads...

Withindale

Joseph Thank you for your considered comments. Having dismissed uprights, Kentner only has well regulated fine grand pianos in his mind. Later on he goes on to say, "Similarly the sound of a melodic line depends on the disposition of the slight voluntary irregularities with which a player gives...

Withindale

The thing about uprights is that you can't control the sound in the same way, because of the limitations of the action. Yes, the repetition issue is well known, but would you be so kind as to explain in what other way(s) the control of sound differs between uprights and grands? My reason for asking...

Withindale

Hi Colin Thank you. Actually I have measured the blow distance. Barrie and I went into it at some length in this thread Do pianists notice small changes in let off and aftertouch? . Blow distance is at its maximum of 44 mm. With set off at 2 mm (bass 3 mm) the key travels 10.5 mm to move the hammer ...

Withindale

PS For general clarification, I have added an answer to the original question. This is at the bottom of the first post in this thread.

Withindale

Thank you one and all for your advice in this and other threads; it has helped enormously. Depth of touch is down to 10.25 mm from the 11 mm that resulted from Reblitz's procedure. Amazing what a difference a fraction of a millimetre makes. The jacks don't escape, check distance is less than the nor...

Withindale

Johnkie I trust everyone realises the points you quote are my summary of what our North American cousins said. You gave everyone a very clear explanation of how to adjust the slap rail, and one of the forum members who is responsible for pianos at a music school in London went off and tried it on a ...

Withindale

Jonathan

This forum is great for specific advice on specific pianos, and no doubt more besides. The Pianoworld forums, if I can mention them, are broader in scope and have a huge archive. You may well find the answers to most of your questions, and many others there.

Withindale

... some of your subject material, 'wording' of questions and assumptions are quite odd and possibly eccentric?, and dont readily give a concrete answer. I think the best advice would be for you to book a piano tuner, who will be able to go through the action cycle in detail with you.... However......

Withindale

Hold your horses, Jonathan! There is some very good advice in this forum, freely given. Colin answered my main question in his first and I hit the wrong buttons with an unnecessary supplementary. Actually there is a closed forum for technicians, I understand. So let's stick around without biting the...

Withindale

Hello Colin Cristofiori referred me to Robert Wornum. Fast forwarding to 1907, some people thought the back check was for quick repetition. J Cree Fischer wrote, "BC, is the back check which is simply a piece of wood with a thick piece of felt glued to the inner face and suspended on a wire.BCW...

Withindale

Do you know if the inventors of upright actions intended the jacks to reset on the slightest release of the keys, enabling repetition, or only after the hammers reached the rest rail, preventing repetition? In other words which of these cycles did they have in mind? (a) Key pressed, hammers hits str...

Withindale

Google for Adolfo Barabino on Pianoworld (links to interesting recorded interview about UT) and YouTube. As far as my piano goes, I'd ask our tuner to do the best he can for the piano. I suspect the quality of the tuning outweighs the temperament in most cases. If your tuner can do ET and UT to a hi...

Withindale

Wouldn't your tuner be able to advise over the phone? We would in our business. It's called customer service!

One thing I've learnt from piano forums is that piano technicians are only too keen to help; but for some reason we are reticent at coming forward.

Search found 183 matches