Appointments

To make your tuning appointment, please click “book now” on the home page.  You may also leave a message at this line: (805) 823-3231.  Communicating clearly with the piano technician who maintains your instrument(s) is important and easy to do.  You will receive reminders when piano service is needed or regarding our pre-scheduled appointments, and service plan(s), if applicable. Rely on my automated reminder system to help you remember when your piano is due for servicing.

When we first meet, I usually give a verbal assessment of your piano’s needs, based on its usage, the scope of your musical goals, and taking into consideration of course, your budget.  I will always do what is necessary to improve the quality of your instrument with reasonable suggestions.

Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, and the potential for subsequent outbreaks this year, I am exercising extreme precautions by disinfecting keyboards regularly and maintaining social distance during service appointments. I will wear a mask for your safety, and require you do the same.

A regular tuning and service call for new clients is usually 90 min. and is charged also based on mileage to and from the piano(s), and comes with minor repairs or adjustments.  I come prepared to do a multitude of possible common repairs at every appointment. A pitch correction requires a double tuning, an extra step which is almost always necessary if your piano has not been tuned in over 2-3 years, depending on the specific location’s climate and the instrument.  Invoices are due upon completion of work.  I currently accept cash, check, Paypal, Venmo and Zelle.

Tuning

A piano cannot really be given a fine tuning unless it is already essentially in tune.  For this reason I prefer to service the pianos I maintain as often as possible, with 6 months intervals being the minimum service recommendation.  A piano left unserviced for more than 2-3 years usually will need a pitch adjustment before any tuning can occur, which is an extra step, because the tension on the cast-iron frame settles over time encouraged by wood movement, and high-carbon steel wire keeps a memory of its prior shape through bending points sitting unrendered.  More frequent tunings cultivate rock-solid stability. The physics of tuning has become embodied knowledge to me involving trust as much as control. Also, the humidity and temperature in the environment surrounding your piano must remain stable for your tuning to last.

Voicing

Tuning is also voicing.  Voicing is anything that affects the way your piano’s strings vibrate. Voicing can involve many procedures, such as string leveling and friction control in piano parts, or adjustments to regulation itself.  Modern piano hammers are made from dense wool felt in a sheet pressed over a profiled maple, mahogany, or walnut molding, with a taper from the bass to the treble. Hammer fibers should ideally behave like non-linear springs, with differentiated responses from striking music wire. Hammers develop compacted grooves from many impacts. Your entire set of hammers can be filed and reshaped to restore a pointed gentle curvature on top, and then needled to create potential energy inside the network of fibers. They’ll look cleaner and fresher. When the condition of your hammers is already good, then hammer fitting can become an integral part of my unison tuning. Let’s discuss your wishes for piano tone, and I’ll arrive at a solution to improve the musicality and expression of your instrument within the range of good taste. Tone also depends on the state of your action’s regulation, and condition of parts. Old piano parts (over 5 years) have limitations.

Humidity Control

Humidity control systems and fabric string covers are essential if you want to have ultimate protection for tuning and regulation.  If this is appropriate for your needs, I will provide you with an estimate for installations.

Regulation & Adjustments

I offer full in-depth action regulation service for grands and uprights. Regulation is: the controlled spatial adjustment of piano parts in a timed event with evenness and uniformity from note-to-note that enables you to play to higher degrees of musical expression with greater ease. It may first involve (or be predicated upon) parts-restoration or replacement, center-pin friction optimization, new keybushings, backchecks, knuckles, or balance hole rejuvenation.  I am interested in making your instrument handle, with enhanced responsiveness, dynamic control and tonal diversity from pianissimo through ff, and better repetition.  Ask me for a verbal assessment of your piano’s present state of regulation.  If appropriate, I will provide an estimate itemizing the action work necessary to make your piano feel like you may have always wanted.  When installing all-new parts, I also offer options for touchweight modification and keyboard re-balancing.

Shop work is charged based on an hourly rate.  I keep a log of the time I spend on repairs and shop procedures.  Final bills will include costs for the contracted labor, supplies and equipment, as well as any unexpected anomalies which may lengthen any job.

Thanks, and I look forward to maintaining your piano!

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AdriansPianoService@gmail.com