Category Archives: Piano Tuning in Leeds

Regulation/Maintenance task – Cleaning & Lubricating the Key Pins

A relatively quick and easy way that a piano tuner can improve the piano’s performance is to ensure the key pins are as clean and slippery as possible. If all the key pins are polished, smooth and slippery the piano keys will glide as effectively as possible which greatly improves the feel and playability of the piano.

Before lubricating the bushings, key pins must to be cleaned of any rust or grime. A bit of surface rust is no big deal – some steel wool can clean that off quite effectively. If they’re heavily rusted or showing signs of corrosion then they need to be replaced – the Leeds piano tuner will give you a quote before continuing his work.

One the Leeds piano tuner is satisfied with the condition of every key pin, then the key pins and the key bushings will be lubricated. Every piano tuner has their preference on what lubricant to apply (Protek CLP, PTFE or Teflon), but the Leeds piano tuner prefers protek for its durable and long lasting nature. In some extreme instances, Protek or PTFE in liquid form on the key pins and teflon powder on every key bushing has proven to be the best combination, if the piano had many sticking keys (a separate though related issue) or squeaks beforehand.

If you have had a piano for many years and this has never been performed by a Leeds piano tuner, your piano could well benefit from this service. Judging by the condition of many older pianos, the key pins have been neglected for the pianos whole life which can be an unfortunate sight to behold.

Bridle tape replacement

One of the common repair jobs performed on an aging piano during the piano tuning visit: bridle tape replacement. These tapes keep the hammer bridled to the action after a note is played and keeps the wippen from falling down if the action is taken out of the piano for repairs.

On an older piano in poor condition, its very common for a large number of bridle tapes to have broken (usually the tips have disintegrated over time). This can cause minor problems with key repetition and on some pianos the jack can get jammed behind the hammer butt (depends on the size of the parts or if other issues have occurred such as springs losing tension). While this issue can be overlooked by many piano tuner technicians (as many pianos play reasonably well with missing bridle tapes), replacing these tapes is an important step towards getting the piano performing at its best. The Leeds piano tuner has many spares in his piano tuner case.

Happy New Year to my Leeds and West Yorkshire piano tuning clients!

Happy 2023 everyone. 2022 was the most financially successful year on record for me by a wide margin – lots of piano tuning, and new friends and contacts made with various Leeds and Bradford theaters, recording studios, schools and churches – plenty of freshly tuned pianos out there today. It was a delight. Don’t let anyone tell you that digital pianos have superseded acoustic pianos – lots of Luddites and purists out there like myself who can appreciate the sound and feel of a real piano.

On that note, please don’t forget to have your acoustic piano tuned regularly – ideally twice a year. It’s best for the piano tuning stability, its tone and its longevity.

  • – Richard Lidster, Piano Tuner Leeds.

Piano Regulation (preliminary steps)

Piano Regulation – simply put – refers to a series of adjustments made to the piano’s mechanism to ensure that the entire piano performs optimally (i.e. that it plays well and all keys feel smooth and even in weight/depth of touch).

For a first time Leeds or West Yorkshire piano tuning client, I’m often performing minor repairs and regulation on the action as part of the piano tuning process (often simply making adjustments to compensate for wear and tear, or even replacing the odd worn action part), all within a two hour window for my standard rate.  A full regulation of the entire action and keyboard is a longer process. This can take upwards of 6 hours and my fee for this begins at £400. Its commonly undertaken as part of a larger overhaul of the action or may take place as part of a restoration – though not necessarily (on a modern upright that is otherwise in good condition but badly regulated, a thorough regulation procedure can improve performance dramatically).

There are many preliminary steps the piano tuner & technician must take before regulation. The first is to give the piano a thorough cleaning; making sure all dust, dirt and foreign objects have been removed will ensure optimal functioning of the keys and the action. A damp cloth, a vacuum, a small brush and a bowl of clean warm water can be all the tools needed for a deep clean of the piano (ensuring the back frame, soundboard, bridge assembly, the keyboard and action must all be free from excessive dirt and dust which hinder performance and play-ability).

Once the piano is clean the Leeds piano tuner will check over the keyboard. The condition of the key pins must be free of grease and rust, and all punchings in the front and balance rail must be inspected for damage. The key frame screws should be tightened a long with the screws in the action bracket.

Once the keyboard is clean and has been thoroughly looked over, the Leeds piano tuner will then turn his attention to the mechanism, checking that all the action parts are in good condition (i.e. the center pins have the right amount of friction and are secure in the flanges or the jack, that no wooden parts are broken or missing and so on, so forth). All action screws should be tight and the hammers should be properly aligned.

The strings will next be checked over – the three string unisons must be propely aligned, the tightness of the pressure bar checked, the strings should be properly seated at the bridge and hitch pins.

Finally, if the hammers are too worn, they can be roughly reshaped to improve tone before regulation.

These preliminary steps are often be beneficial with or without full regulation. Unfortunately many pianos have rarely been cleaned and a thorough cleaning can sometimes be enough to make sure the piano plays well. Many of the rattles or looseness of touch (or jamming keys) can be down to loose screws in the hammer or whippen flange. Options for more regulation are usually discussed with a piano tuning client on first meeting, and will depend on the current state of the piano (how well regulated it is) and what the pianist is willing to invest in their beloved instrument.

A few notes about my availability page

I like having a ‘Leeds Piano Tuner’ availability page on this website. It’s convenient for the customer to have an idea of how I can work around their schedule. At the moment, I can only update it while I’m home and at my computer, so I while I aim to update it daily, it’s sometimes out of date by a date or two. This is because, for various reasons, I sometimes stay over at my parents house after a long day. Or sometimes, if I have a lot of piano repairs on top of piano tuning to do I might not be home until 11:00 PM at which point I’m too tired to turn my computer on and start updating the website (in those cases I set my alarm earlier so I can update it before setting off for work the next morning). I would say, if you’re just visiting the website for the first time, please check the page and by all means choose an available slot – but if it says it hasn’t been updated in a day or two there’s a slight chance another piano tuning appointment might have been booked during that short space of time.

Another point is about my availability on weekends – at the moment if you’re in desperate need of a piano tuner as soon as possible, I can offer weekend bookings. I’m happy to do this if it helps the customer. Generally speaking, if you’re not in such a rush to have your piano tuned and serviced, I’m usually busy for a week and then my schedule becomes flexible after 7-10 days (most piano tuning bookings are at short notice). If you’re willing to wait a week or so I can be much more flexible with hours.

  • – Richard Lidster, Leeds Piano Tuner

My unique selling point; Low fees, no hidden charges

In these dark days, it seems that costs are rising for everything – except for my piano tuning services. My reasoning is that if I were to put my Leeds piano tuning rates up and lost 20% of my clientele, then I wouldn’t have gained anything and I could potentially upset a lot of my regulars.

I’m also transparent about my fees on this website – I can’t stand hidden charges when I book my car in for a service, so I wouldn’t want to inflict them on anyone else in regard to piano tuning.

Now don’t think a good deal means you won’t receive an exemplary piano tuning service. I now have 11 years experience as a piano tuner in Leeds and beyond under my belt (how time flies!). I’ve been diagnosed (twice) as having pitch perfect hearing (being able to hear the difference of less an 1 cent flat or sharp, or 1/100th of a semitone). I also think that as a musician (grade 8 guitar and a trained vocalist, well known in the Leeds and Yorkshire music scene) I’m more inclined to give your piano the extra diligence that it requires – to pick up on the subtle things that make playing music more enjoyable.

Prices remain the same… for now

Does anyone remember when a can of coke cost 50p, a chocolate bar was 30p and petrol was less than a £1 a litre? Inflation is rather worrying now. My prices will have to stay the same… for the time being. For piano tuning I have to travel long distances (although my main customer base is in Leeds), so I will have to see how cost effective my current prices are with these huge increases in the price of fuel, food, and utility payments. I am always upfront with my prices (everything on this website is wholly up to date) as I find “hidden charges” extremely annoying and wouldn’t want to inflict them on anyone else. But don’t be surprised if in two or three months I have to put my prices up.

More weekends hours open for piano tuning

My ‘Leeds Piano Tuner Availability’ page is best used as a guide to find an hour that fits your work schedule. I also work early mornings on a regular basis although these are ‘hidden’ piano tuning hours that I offer when no others suit you; they tend to be offered to theatres, schools, commercial venues and the like (usually in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield or Harrogate), but if you’re an early bird like me then a home booking at 7 AM or 8 AM might be your first choice. Piano tuning can be done at any time of day, as long as it isn’t disturbing a neighbour or relative, although I personally feel most energetic in the morning, afternoon and early evening.

As Christmas draws near, late evening bookings could be an option. While my stated last booking is usually 7:30 PM, I sometimes have a piano tuning booking at 9 – 10 PM as well if it meets the needs of the customer. I always like to have 2 hours available for each customer, even if it doesn’t take that long – this allows enough time to tune the piano and make any required adjustments to the mechanism.

Turning over a new leaf

Life has been a little bit hectic the last few weeks since my return from holiday. I’ve had lots and lots of catching up to do piano tuning in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Harrogate, York, Morley, Thirsk and many bright and colourful places in James Herriot land – and I’m all the better for it. Because of this my Leeds piano tuner availability page fell by the wayside. I’m trying desperately to update it at least once a day but I regularly have days where I leave the house at 7 AM and arrive home at 10 – 11 PM too tired to log in. If the page has not been modified for a few days its purely because of a busy schedule, not because I don’t want to be doing more piano tuning and repair. If the side note says it hasn’t been updated in a while it might be easier to ask for a few days that works around your schedule, and in all likelihood I’ll be happy to arrange it.

  • Richard Lidster, the Leeds Piano Tuner.