Repair

What sort of repairs do you do?
I am able to make just about any kind of a repair that your piano may need.  With exception to rebuilding, I offer all services including parts replacement, repair, and reconditioning.  I am fully insured and bonded and all work is at no risk to the client. 

If it is a broken key, a broken string, a chipped key top, a loose key, or something else--I can fix it!  The only repairs that I do not offer are those that involve rebuilding.  If you have a repair, call me or email me to discuss it--I'd be happy to tell you what can do for you; and if for some reason if I do not offer the repair service I'll be happy to refer to you another technician that does!

String repairs
Sometimes when a piano is being played or tuned a string breaks.  This can be a traumatic experience--the noise of it breaking resembles a shotgun firing, and the loose string can fly dangerously across the room!  Strings break though--and it is important to note that your technician is not the reason it broke (if he's doing everything correctly!).  Strings break; technicians do not break strings.  Oftentimes a string will break when in it is pulled up to correct pitch/tension.  Sometimes a string is old and brittle.  Sometimes they simply break for no good reason.  There are two kinds of repairs that can be done to fix this:

A string splice is a recommended immediate fix.  The technician ties a knot with the broken music wire to the new music wire and re-wraps the sting around the tuning pin.  This fix is quick, and can be permanent with a good splice. 

Replacing the string is another fix, but is not always recommended.  The technician measures the guage of the music wire and replaces the old broken string completely with a new one.  While this may seem like a superior fix to splicing there are a few things one must account for:
1) Because this is a new string, it is going to stretch out as tension is added to it--and it will go out of tune very quickly for the first
    couple of weeks.  Not only will replacing a string cost you money, your technician will also have to come back regularly to
    re-tune it until it settles.
2) The tone (and look) of a new string will be different.  Not only would you have a bright shiny string amidst rusty old ones, a new
    string will sound different because it doesn't have rust, dirt, or wear to it. On top of that, the hammer and damper for that string
    will already be grooved and shaped to the old string--they must be reshaped and/or re-felted.

Key repairs
Keys can break in many places, for many reasons.  Often times poor craftsmenship on less expensive pianos, or old wood are the reasons for keys breaking.  Kep tops can chip or fall off for similar reasons.  Luckily, most key repairs can be made with proper gluing techniques, and are not that difficult to do.  Complications arise when the technician needs to match the color of a "white" key top to another "white" key top; the results can be surprisingly different!  A good technician can match key tops, as well as work well with genuine, organic ivory.