BASIC PIANO TUNING (1.5 hour appointment) $ 220.00
ADDITIONAL LABOR $ 110.00 / hour
Pianos which have been regularly serviced — tuned annually at standard pitch (A-440), and its action adjusted reasonably close to specifications — will only need the basic tuning appointment.
How much extra work might your piano need? Give me a phone call (978-663-9690, or email draine@me.com) and we can discuss your piano’s condition and service history.
If the piano hasn’t been serviced regularly it is likely that the piano has “gone flat” — the pitch is below the standard A-440 — to a moderate to severe degree. Correcting this — adding considerable tension to all 230 piano strings (highly tempered steel wire) — requires extra time (often an hour) before a “fine tuning” at standard pitch can be done. Following this first appointment one should get the piano back on a more frequent (i.e., “normal”) service schedule.
REPAIR AND REGULATION
Why might extra work be necessary? Entropy. “Things fall apart.” Although a piano may appear to be a “big heavy stable thing”, it really is quite complicated. 88 keys, yes, but 230 strings with a total tension of 20 tons! Over 10,000 moving parts hidden within the case, made of wood (maple), several types of woven or felted wool felt (and buckskin) of radically different thicknesses and densities, which must be aligned and adjusted to exact tolerances for the keys to respond fully to the player’s input. Returning the piano action to optimal functionality may require repairs or parts replacement (usually necessary only when the piano has been played for decades, or exposed to extremes of humidity or dryness, damaging parts), followed by regulation, the intricate adjustment of parts’ leverages. While the keys themselves are “simple levers”, the rest of the piano action is a system of “rotating (toothless) gears”.
The amount of time spent regulating the action may be less than an hour (if the piano is comparatively new or consistently serviced), or up to a full day’s labor (beyond any necessary parts repair) if the instrument is used heavily or is several decades old.
