Heat vents vs. pianos

Heat vents vs. pianos

by SJ Piano ServiceNo Comments
Quite often this time of year, I have conversations with customers about heat vents in their home. It has been a cold winter in New Jersey, and many home furnaces have been working overtime. Particularly in homes with forced air (blowing) heat sources, it's important to protect pianos and other musical instruments from the hot, dry air. The simplest and most effective way of accomplishing this is simply keeping the piano away from heat vents. If that's not an option, consider vent redirect options like the one pictured. Notice the air from the vent is being diverted away from the piano, without any significant loss to the amount of airflow into the room. Your piano will thank you for your attentiveness to this detail - pianos that are kept away from dry heat sources are far less likely to develop soundboard and bridge cracks, and remain much more stable in tuning and regulation. ...
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Cleaning piano keys

Cleaning piano keys

by SJ Piano ServiceNo Comments
Cleaning even the dirtiest piano keys is much simpler than you may think. There are rarely any special chemicals or tools needed, and particularly with most modern plastic key tops, there's very little you could do to harm the keys. I would always recommend starting with the least abrasive cleaner possible. Quite a lot of cleaning can be accomplished with just a damp cloth. In the picture below, I did all of the cleaning with a multi-surface furniture cleaner spray, along with some paper towels. On ivory keys, more care should be taken, not so much because typical household cleaners will damage the ivory (just test on an inconspicuous spot first to be safe), but because the ivory keys are much easier to chip if you're not careful around the edges. With a little common sense and some elbow grease, most piano keys can be cleaned quickly and safely! ...
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Cleaning, Regulation, & Voicing

Cleaning, Regulation, & Voicing

by SJ Piano ServiceNo Comments
Tuning is not the only maintenance that pianos need! As dust and other debris accumulates inside a piano, age and routine use wear down moving parts, and hammers compact and form deep grooves, various other maintenance tasks become essential. There is no standard interval for these maintenance tasks; but as a general rule, the more use the piano gets and the more advanced the pianists using it, the more frequently they should be done. Many pianists are simply not aware of what a well-regulated and well-voiced piano feels and sounds like, and don't realize what they're missing! As a general rule, any instrument that is being used by an advanced pianist, or for any performance purposes, should have voicing and regulation touched up on an annual basis. A thorough cleaning and regulation will generally be necessary every few years. If these tasks are done on a regular basis, the costs and time involved are much more manageable. In other cases where general...
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Heat and direct sunlight taking their toll

by SJ Piano ServiceNo Comments
Twice in the last week, I have seen significant soundboard cracks on relatively new grand pianos. Both high quality instruments. This was a Yamaha C3, the conservatory model baby grand. Why does this happen? In both cases, the pianos had been stored immediately next to heat sources and/or direct sunlight. As heat and sunlight dry out the piano, soundboard cracks are just one of many problems that crop up. In both cases, I strongly advised the owners to keep their valuable piano away from heat sources and direct sunlight. Thankfully, these soundboard cracks are not significantly impacting the tone of the piano yet. If the pattern continues though, pianos stored in environments like this may lose decades of useful life. If you have a piano, particularly a high quality one, know what's good for it! ...
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