PIANO RESTORATION AND CHOOSING A PIANO

We restore all makes of pianos, and encourage you to make use of our combined removals and inspection service, removing your piano via our workshop where it will be assessed by Marcus Roberts, the owner of the business, who will write a simple report. Marcus has been a concert tuner and piano restorer for over 25 years and has a passion to see each piano perform to its best capabilities. It's our experience that the majority of older pianos have been regularly tuned but never serviced; it's therefore difficult to achieve a reliable soft touch and the tone is also inferior. The quote will detail the most important work that needs doing and place tasks in order of priority. We work to a timesheet and you will be billed only according to the hours worked and parts bought.

We specialise in fine restoration of top quality grand pianos, using the best German piano parts and traditional French polishing. Before making a decision as to what work your piano needs to have done, we recommend you read the following information.

Does your piano need reconditioning and is it worth doing?
Below are some simple guidelines to help you decide whether a piano is worth restoring and what work will most improve it. If you've inherited a piano and need to move it, please see our combined removals and inspection service

At the bottom of this page there is a list of ratings of over 100 makes of piano commonly found in the UK. More detailed information can be found in our "common makes" section

Which is best - a modern piano or an older reconditioned one?
The short answer is that top makes of older pianos often have a superior tone and usually appearance to modern ones, though good modern pianos will usually have a good touch, whereas badly restored traditional ones may not. The main reasons for the traditional pianos being superior is that from 1880 to 1940 when the piano was the main mechanical item in the home, there were a hundred times more skilled workers in the trade, competition was strong and time was less important. Good hardwood, ivory and other materials were also more readily available. There have been no significant changes in mechanical design since then, and all parts on older pianos are still readily available. Modern pianos from top makers from 1950 onwards can also be very good. They have the advantage of being usually less worn and therefore need less reconditioning. For good ones see the list of makes at the bottom of this page.


Reconditioning or Restoration?
We use the term reconditioning to mean working on the piano as necessary to get the best possible tone and touch. We think very carefully before deciding to change strings or hammers as it is very difficult to reproduce the manufacturer’s desired tone and touch. However, if the hammers are very worn or several strings are broken, then we will always replace them. Hammers, for instance, are very frequently in need of replacement as the old ones, like an old tennis ball, have lost their "bounce"! Conversely they can also become hard as they dry out and as they also get compacted by hitting against the string.

We've tried to list the tasks in order of importance, though this order will of course vary according to the piano, and we're not taking into account simple repairs which you may also need. If your budget doesn’t stretch to major work, then a day’s work of adjustments, re-facing and tuning will invariably make an enormous difference to the piano. We offer the service of a free inspection of pianos we move.

Restoration includes the above, but implies much more fundamental work such as major casework repairs, and even soundboard replacement. Replacing the soundboard really alters the underlying tone of the piano and is not recommended except where it has lost its “crown” or is severely damaged in some way. We restore all makes of piano, though our main full restoration work is on grand pianos by Bechstein, Bluthner, Bosendorfer and Steinway.

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Aspects of Reconditioning:

Polishing
We have a team of professional polishers and can finish the piano in any style or colour. We try to re-polish the piano exactly as it was originally, though this can be a very lengthy process as “French polishing” requires a very large number of coats.  A more basic finish is also available. Costs vary between £1500 and £3500. We can also change the colour of your piano if you wish or do modern polyester finishes if required.

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Hammers
Very often the hammers and related felts are too worn or soft, and cannot be made to reproduce the original tone. New hammers are the only solution. We usually fit new ones which are made in Germany, but sometimes recover the existing hammers, again with German or other top quality felt. The decision as to which route to take for a particular piano is one of the most important we make. After installation, the hammers then need accurate aligning to the strings, “travelling”, and once the piano has been fine tuned, toning or voicing. The new hammer makes a world of difference to the tone, bringing out the full harmonic range of the piano. This usually costs between £1200 and £1700, including voicing hammers and weighting the action. Please note that replacing the hammers on your piano will make the touch heavier, unless you specify that you want lighter hammers fitted (see also "touch" below).

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Re-facing
If there is sufficient felt on the hammer, a vast improvement can often be made by re-facing it. It will then require toning as well. The cost varies form £150 to £300. Re-facing will reduce the weight of the action, and may also affect balance.

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Touch
Touch refers to the smoothness, responsiveness and weight of the action. Top makes of piano can be made to be excellent in all aspects, while it's often impossible to improve a piano that is cheaply made in the first place. There are, however, basic adjustments that can be made to vastly improve the touch of any piano, such as taking up the slack between the keys and the rest of the movement, adjusting the hammer blow distance or adjusting the “let off” - the distance the hammer travels to the strings before escaping, etc. However, to make fundamental improvements to the touch, extensive work needs to be undertaken. This is because touch is related to two opposing factors: down-weight and up-weight.

Down-weight is measured as the force needed to press the key so that it starts to move. This is normally about 50 grams - approximately five £1 coins and one 5p piece, measured with the sustain pedal depressed. On pianos that have had extensive use, (or some older pianos designed to have lighter touch) this is often reduced to about 40 grams. This lighter touch may suit an older or occasional player whose finger strength has been reduced. Changing the hammers will normally make the touch heavier. However, this is only half the story!

Up-weight is the force, exerted mainly by the hammers, which causes the action to return to rest. But the pianist needs to feel an even resistance throughtout the travel of the key. Up-weight has to do with friction and geometric balance in the action. The up-weight should be between 20 and 25 grams but varies according to different factors and for different pianos. Worn hammers are lighter and therefore produce less upweight. A good pianist can normally tell instinctively if the action “feels” right. Up-weight can often be corrected by replacing loose hinge pins, springs and felts. We strongly recommend that you try the touch on the piano you are going to buy, or if you don't have the experience or confidence to do this, then make sure you get expert advice on choosing your piano. Older pianos vary greatly; Steinways tend to be heavier, Bluthners lighter, but all pianos can be customised to suit the player. Modern pianos also vary greatly and cheaply made ones ofen have heavy upweight. Thoughtful modern firms such as Wendl and Lung pay great attention to up-weight. If you are having a piano restored, make sure you tell the restorer what your preference is.

Loose Tuning Pins. With central heating the wood on the piano's pin block dries out, causing the tuning pins to loosen. In most cases this can be cured permanently by replacing the tuning pins with larger ones, though in some pianos, such as the Bechstein upright models I to V , the pin-block itself may need changing. Changing tuning pins costs about £750, and it’s a good opportunity to re-string at the same time if this is thought to be an improvement. Restringing costs about £1,500 and this is usually combined with refinishing and repairing (if necessary) the soundboard, and refinishing the frame. If the pinblock needs replacing too, replacing the pinblock and restringing will cost about £2500

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Strings
The strings are changed less often as it's extremely difficult to reproduce the appropriate tone with modern ones. In some cases, such as with Bluthner or Richard Lipp grands, the bass tone can be inferior with new strings.. However, if your piano has several broken strings already, then changing them may be the best option. Modern grands can often be improved with new bass strings, sometimes because the original strings weren’t very good anyway! Our replacement German bass strings, for instance, will vastly improve a Yamaha grand piano. Replacing all the strings costs between £1500 and £2200, including refinishing the frame and soundboard.

Fitting a Practice Pedal (celeste mute)
Most modern upright pianos have a third pedal which when depressed puts a felt between the hammer and strings, allowing the midnight pianist to practice without disturbing anyone! These can be fitted to most older pianos as a lever situated under the keyboard. The cost is around £150 + VAT.

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Repairing Ivory Keys
We can usually repair or replace chipped ivories with a good match. In order to avoid a line appearing between the front and the back part of the ivory, it needs clamping. If the ivories are very yellowed, they may benefit from scraping and polishing. Ivory keys (and plastic) need regular buffing on a buffing wheel.


Adding a traditional music desk to a modern piano.
Many musicians find that modern upright pianos don't have a user-friendly music desk. We offer the service of fitting an old-style desk to your piano, with book holders to keep the pages open. We can also fit bookholders to modern desks.

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Quotations
When we are asked to quote for work, we take into account the following points, working within your budget:

1. How well made is the piano?
2. Do you want a full restoration or simply that the piano will perform well enough for a child to take up to, say, grade 8?
3. We will tone the piano according to the kind of room and type of tone you require.
4. What kind of touch do you want? Generally, a lighter touch for older occasional users but a down-weight of at least 50 grams is necessary for beginners as they need to develop their finger muscles and will take exams on a piano having this touch weight.
5 Will the piano hold it's value? There is no question of this if it is one of the top German makes - Bechstein, Bluthner, Bosendorfer, Steinway, etc. German makes such as Lipp, Kaps, some Ibach grands, and some English makes such as Chappell and some Broadwoods will fare well in terms of value too.  Modern pianos such as Yamaha and Kawai are not built with reconditioning in mind, though good German bass strings make a vast tone difference, and changing worn hammers is a possibility.

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Brief Ratings of piano makes, once reconditioned
Here is a very rough guide of common makes available in the UK. Please note that this is the rating of the piano once fully reconditioned. Unreconditioned pianos may have much lower ratings. An example of this is a Kaps upright we recently purchased and restored. I rated the piano at 35 when we bought it and it had a rating of 78 when it was finished! It cost us £150 and we spent the equivalent of £4000 on restoring it.The ratings are out of 100. For a more detailed list please see our "common makes" page

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We cover all areas of the UK but are able to offer a more frequent piano restoration service to the following areas:
Andover, Aylesbury, Basingstoke, Berkshire, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brighton, Chichester, Ringwood, Salisbury, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Coventry, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Leamington, Leicester, East London, North London, South London, West London, High Wycombe, Newbury, New Forest, Northampton, Northamptonshire, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Portsmouth, Reading, West Sussex, Warwickshire, Winchester, Worthing, Newport, Portsmouth, Slough, Swindon, Southampton, Reading, Watford.