Piano Tuning - Different Sizes of Keys??

[StuartMeadows]

Hi there,

I recently became the owner of a Nathaniel Berry & Sons upright piano. It is around 100 years old but is very badly out of tune.

This is where the problem lies. I am an amateur with pianos however have a very musical ear from the other instruments I play. I was going to try and tune this piano myself. I bought myself a tuning key, however it does not fit any of the tuning pegs... are there different sizes of tuning keys? If so where would I be best getting them.

I'm hoping they are not customised to Nathaniel Berry pianos as they are now no longer being produced and I would imagine this would make it very difficult to get hold of a tuning key!

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. - I'm new here!

Thanks

Stuart

[Gill the Piano]

Advice; don't do it. I have been to many casualties where the owner had a go themselves. The piano is tuned in equal temperament for a start, unlike almost any other instrument. It is very easy to break strings, and bass strings can get very expensive, ten to twenty quid each.
Tuning cranks can vary in size; we carry a selection of heads to fit different size/shape tuning pins.
Get a good tuner in, sit and watch if you like (most of us aren't paranoid) and you'll see exactly what's involved. I think you'd end up calling a tuner in anyway if you had a go yourself....

[Antz]

I have a slightly different take on this.

If you are wanting to tune the piano yourself to save yourself money, don't, because you wont.

However, if you have done a great deal of preparatory learning about what's involved specifically in piano tuning cf other instruments and PROVIDED THAT you realise:
* you are never going to do as good a job as a professional
* you are prepared to pay a tuner to come and finesse your attempt when you realise you still haven't got it quite right
* you are prepared for, and undaunted by, the possibility of way more expense if you stuff something up (e.g., break a string, bend a tuning pin) - by way more, I mean orders of magnitude more,
then, by all means, have a go.

But do be prepared for all of those eventualities, and do put in plenty of preparatory work to understand what's involved. If after all that, you still want to have a go, do so.

Then call your piano tuner anyway.

When he or she comes, you will have a much greater level of respect for his/her art. You will also be able to have a much more intelligent conversation with him or her about the state of your piano, about what other adjusting or regulating might be required or advisable etc.

Just don't do it to save money.

Declaration of interest: I am not a professional piano tuner.

[longbow]

If, after reading the replies so far, you still want to go ahead and try and tune your own piano, then you could do worse than go to Heckscher & co in Camden Town for a tuning lever to fit your pins. They are usually very helpfull.

[Brumtuner]

My advice is have a go.




I often do.

[TheBritishPianist]

Don't try and tune your own piano. You'll just be wasting your time, or damage it.

[Bill Kibby]

I don't quite follow Gill's point about equal temperament, but the word KEYS already has too many uses in pianos, without being applied to the tuning tools. Crank-shaped ones are known as cranks or levers, T-shaped ones are known as hammers or more accurately T-hammers. There are some very handy electronic devices now which can do the "listening" for you, but piano tuning is not just about sound, it is a difficult technique learning to control the pins so that they stay in tune longer, and thsat assumes that the pano is capable of being tuned. All sorts of questions arise which tuners have the experience and training to deal with.

[Gill the Piano]

My point was that it's hard enough to tune a perfect interval if you don't know what you're at, but to try and put beats in when you aren't used to listening for 'em is a bit of a b*gger. And occasionally when you are used to listening for 'em...

[Bill Kibby]

And my point was that you said "The piano is tuned in equal temperament for a start, unlike almost any other instrument" - it's certainly not only pianos that have equal temperament.

[Gill the Piano]

Hence the getout clause: "almost"!