Piano Tuning and Repair Services San Jose CA

Piano Tuning and Repair
​Tuning most instruments is a relatively straightforward affair, which is a good thing since most musicians must tune before each performance or rehearsal. Pianos are a little different, they need to be tuned much less frequently, but getting them into tune requires the help of a professional piano tuner. We service areas such as San Jose, San Fransisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Fremont and Oakland. Feel free to give us a call or fill a form.
What Causes Pianos to Go Out of Tune?
There’s a common misconception among novice pianists that playing a piano often is what causes it to go out of tune. Thankfully, this isn’t true. Unless they hit the keys with exceptional force, most pianists won’t alter the tuning of their instruments by playing them every day.
What does affect piano tuning is atmospheric changes. A Humid Season environment affects pitch by causing a piano’s sound board to swell, stretching its strings until its pitch becomes sharp. A Dry Season environment has the opposite effect. Dramatic temperature changes can also cause alterations in pitch, as can normal settling. 
​How to Tell a Piano Is Out of Tune
Even relatively tone-deaf people can tell when a piano hasn’t been tuned in years but subtle changes in pitch are more of a challenge to detect. Unfortunately, even a difference in frequency of one or two Hz can impact a piano’s tone, so serious pianists need to pay attention to their instruments’ pitches.
Slight alterations in pitch can cause a phenomenon known as beating. This unusual sound, sometimes associated with honky-tonk music and venues, is caused by interference between sound waves that are close together in frequency but not quite the same. The only way to eliminate excessive beating is to change the strings’ pitch to eliminate the difference in frequency. If you need assistance tuning your piano feel free to contact us San Jose Piano Tuning and Repair at 406-510-2815

Don't Wait Give us a call now
(406)510-2815

Reasons to Hire a Professional
The typical piano has 230 strings, each of which is placed under around 200 pounds of tension. These strings can’t all be tuned to Concert pitch, so it’s not just a matter of putting in the time and work. Tuning a piano requires a refined ear and the kind of experience that can’t be learned from a book. That’s why professionals typically undergo a Piano tuning Apprenticeship prior to setting out on their own careers.
Not only do piano tuners need to alter the pitch of over 200 strings, but they also need to accommodate different pianists’ styles and instruments. No two pianos are the same and even the same piano might sound different in a new environment. To complicate things further, the human ear perceives higher pitched notes as flatter than mid-range notes.
Our Professional tuners know how to harness knowledge, experience, and specialized tools to overcome all these potential issues and bring out the best tone in any instrument. Despite the complexity of tuning pianos, Piano tuning cost is typically reasonable provided musicians have their instruments tuned frequently.
Get your free quote by calling ​406-510-2815 for piano tuning services and piano repair services.
​

FAQ's

Tuning Neglected Pianos
Pianos that haven’t been tuned for years often need a little extra care. Most piano tuners and technicians will use a strategy called pitch raising to avoid problems associated with significant pressure changes in the strings. Pitch raising involves tightening loose strings to an approximation of their final pitch to restore normal tension before going back to tune each of them precisely.
Tuning a piano twice may sound silly but.....see more.

​Pianos That Won’t Stay in Tune
There are a few reasons a piano may not stay in tune. Problems like fluctuations in temperature and humidity can be resolved by moving the piano away from windows or wood stoves or installing a dehumidifier, so rule those out before calling a repair technician.
The most common mechanical issue that causes pianos not to hold their tuning is an issue with the tuning pin block. Tuning pin blocks are comprised .....see more.

What to Do With a Piano That Can’t Be Tuned
If a piano won’t hold a tune due to worn tuning pin blocks or other mechanical issues, there’s no sense in paying a piano tuner. Instead, call a piano technician who can also handle basic and complex repairs. Although replacing tuning pin blocks isn’t typically that expensive there may be other underlying issues affecting the piano’s playability as well. A technician can perform a full inspection.....see more.

Tuning Services 406-510-2815

Piano Regulation
Only a trained piano technician can perform repairs or offer accurate appraisals. Those aren’t the only tasks technicians perform, though. Only a skilled technician can perform regulation, a process that restores an aging piano’s keys to their optimal action.
There are a few steps technicians may need to take when regulating a piano. In older pianos, they include addressing common issues like felt compression and warping of the wood. In some cases, this may require Keybrush replacement.
New pianos sometimes need to be regulated after they are moved from the factory to the store to their new homes, as well. In this case, regulation typically involves adjusting screws and sanding down wood surfaces. Either way, the goals are the same: technicians aim to ensure that the piano’s sound is consistent across all its keys, provide maximum responsiveness, and that the keys can produce the widest possible range of dynamics.

Tuning Temperament
Pianos are harmonic instruments, meaning they can play multiple tones at once. This makes Piano Tuning Temperament Sequence very important. Tempering involves altering pure intervals through Pitch raising and lowering, often in fifths, fourths, thirds, and sixths. Most pianists prefer to have their instruments tuned using tempered interval relationships, which is a good thing since this is the easiest way to tune a piano.
Piano tuners work from the middle octave, typically using A-440 piano tuning and ensuring proper pitch with a tuning fork. They then move in ascending or descending patterns while tuning the rest of the strings to approximate equal temperament. Some professional tuners also use Piano tuning software to ensure proper pitch and temperament.

Repair Services 406-510-2815

Restoring Old Pianos
Have an older piano that’s either worth a lot of money or has a lot of sentimental value? It’s almost always possible to restore even extremely neglected pianos but it may take even an experienced technician some time. There are a few parts inside the piano that can fail over time due to general wear. Contact us for a free consultation.

Cracked Sound Boards
A piano’s Sound board is one of its most essential components. Although its location deep in the inside of the piano protects these large wood components from most forms of damage, sound boards are prone to cracking due to humidity and temperature changes and particularly rough relocation.
Minor cracks in a Sound board are nothing to worry about. In fact, the only time pianists really need to worry about having cracks repaired is when they begin to produce an unusual buzzing sound. This only happens when cracks reach roughly the width of a penny.
Most cracks in sound boards can be repaired using wood wedges and screws. In situations where the piano has incurred damage during a flood, after a drop, or after any other serious incident it may not be possible to repair this component. Instead, a technician will have to remove the plate and replace it with a newly manufactured Sound board.

​Bridle Straps
Bridle straps are often the first parts to fail in older upright pianos since they’re made of cloth, which tends to become dry rotted as it age. Thankfully, Bridal Strap replacement is a relatively easy task for trained technicians. They need only remove the damaged bridle strap then replace it with a new cork, clip-on, or standard style strap.
Common signs that one or more bridle straps need to be replaced include issues with the hammer assembly failing to come back to a resting position after pressing a key and issues with the piano’s action. Most technicians recommend replacing all the bridle straps if one of them has deteriorated to its breaking point.

Issues with Keys
There are a few issues that come up with individual piano keys. The most common of them is a Sticky Key. It’s common for keys to stick when pianos are neglected since things can get stuck under or between the keys. This can be resolved with a routine cleaning.
Other common causes of sticking keys include swelling of the wood from humidity, excessively tight bushings, and breaks in the balance rail pin. In these cases, the key might need to be replaced entirely.
Key top replacement is another common form of key repair. It involves removing old, worn key tops and replacing them with new ones. This may sound simple, but proper placement is everything, so it’s best to hire our professionals that service the bay area
​​​

The Bottom Line
Pianos may be large but they are delicate instruments that require professional maintenance and care. Older pianos that have not been played in decades typically require restoration work before they can be tuned up and played. Even brand-new pianos often need to be regulated after being brought home from the shop. Our qualified piano technicians can do all that and more. This site was sponsored by Landscaping Clovis. Landscaping Clovis offers a variety of landscaping services from landscaping designs to tree removals and more! Visit our piano tuning friends in Minneapolis Piano Tuning Minneapolis
​​