r/pianotech
▲ 20 r/pianotech
Someone on here recently posted and was annoyed about a very mildly messy string coil. This one's for you. This may be the worst I've ever come across. So far...
u/mrmaestoso — 2 days ago
▲ 5 r/pianotech
Upright piano keys stuck after reinstalling action (broken bridle tapes)
Hi everyone,
Just to be clear, I’m not a piano technician at all. I only had one stuck note on my upright piano and thought I might be able to fix it myself, so I removed the whole action.
The piano already had a few broken bridle tapes before I touched it. After putting the action back in, the notes with the broken bridles don’t go down anymore at all.. the keys feel completely stuck.
Did I probably reinstall something wrong, or can broken bridle tapes cause this after removing/reinstalling the action? I read that maybe the jack can get stuck under the hammer butt, but I honestly don’t know enough to tell.
Does anyone know how to fix this or what I should check first?
Thanks a lot.
u/FirefighterNew4446 — 3 days ago
▲ 5 r/pianotech
So im 20M and I want to start learning to be a piano tech
I know I could either take classes in a college or buy a course online then just take an exam
Im curious what yall did and if you would recommend one over the other. And if an online course, which one
Thanks in advance
u/Queasy_One5622 — 13 days ago
▲ 3 r/pianotech
Been thinking about how to refinish these. I’m assuming it’s black lacquer that’s worn off, as it’s completely opaque and at least semi-gloss.
At first was thinking to lightly sand and reshoot them. But then thought, wth it’s ebony. Why put anything over it? Why not see if I can gently take all that lacquer off and polish it up nicely like a proper string instr maker does to all their ebony parts? They sure as hell aren’t plastic coating their ebony, so why are piano people hiding theirs?
u/Space2999 — 8 days ago
▲ 0 r/pianotech
Highschooler Can’t Attend PTG Convention w/ Stanford Conflict!
Hey all! I am currently a high schooler (can drive and commute) near the DMV region. I am looking to be a piano tech right now, as a gig in college, or as a hustle in the far future. Unfortunately, and fortunately, I got accepted into Stanford’s summer program and conflict what I originally wanted to attend the PTG convention in Arlington. (Have not registered yet) Does anyone in the region know any other opportunities? Any way I can get into this field? If I would wait another year, I would almost be shipped off to college by then. Thanks all!
u/Many-Firefighter9485 — 3 days ago
▲ 0 r/pianotech
Built a tool that turns song links into playable piano sheet music — would love feedback
I’ve been learning piano for a while, and one thing that always frustrated me was how difficult it could be to find good sheet music for certain songs — especially modern ones.
A lot of the time, the arrangements were either oversimplified, expensive, or just didn’t exist at all.
So I ended up building Sonata, a small app that converts song/audio links into playable piano sheet music automatically. The goal was to make it faster to turn songs people already enjoy listening to into something they can actually sit down and play.
Still improving the transcription and arrangement quality, but I’d love feedback from piano players or anyone interested in music tech.
If anyone’s interested or has suggestions, feel free to comment or message me.
u/AdGuilty3097 — 2 days ago
▲ 6 r/pianotech
Rattling snare-esque sound
I noticed this piano makes an almost snare drum like sound, kind of rattling, kind of like speakers playing too loudly type sound.
comes from left side of piano definitely, can feel the vibration occurring on left side of piano.
the interesting bit is it only really happens when I press middle C.
couldnt find any loose hardware or components.
u/suda_knot — 5 days ago
▲ 10 r/pianotech
I have had this digital-acoustic (???) piano for a long time and last week decided to start playing again. Right away I noticed the keys were very noisy on the come-back so I opened it up and added a foam strip which fixed the noise issue. But then I was (and still am) faced with another problem. After adding the foam (which is about 1cm high), I had to adjust all the keys’ height to be able to hear any sound when pressing them. And now the sound is too sharp and also a bit out of tune. I kind of regret my little experiment but… it’s too late. 🤦🏻♂️
I’m posting here because the action looks more acoustic than digital.
Any suggestions to bring this back to normal?
u/xavaMTL — 9 days ago
▲ 7 r/pianotech
Hi piano tech community, felt weird posting from my personal account, thus a more private one.
I’m a former dev, full time piano technician with 800 active customers and too many features turned on in Gazelle. We can all agree on the value of the tool and the pain of growth. So I just went ahead and made my own thing to recoup my $3,500/year.
KeyRoute is a lot of things Gazelle is - customer and piano management, email/sms reminders, client side booking, invoices.
Some other things: a smart waitlist that passively fills open holes in the schedule. Customer “shop work” that fills schedule or shop-time/days in intelligent ways. A modern, mobile-friendly business website hosted at KeyRoute.app/yourbusiness - in addition to the link for booking on your own website if you don’t need or want that one. Your customers can view their service record on its own hosted page, with piano and appointment details and a personal booking (and optional) reschedule link.
It’s not a native app and never will be. I actively (personally) push content to the App Store and it’s horrible. Maintaining multiple code bases and processes isn’t why I’m doing this. It’s a PWA (progressive web app) that runs in your browser, however, on your phone you can add it to your Home Screen and it functions as an app.
Most importantly: I’m able to import gazelle contacts, pianos, timeline history, past and current appointments. The complexity of master services list and how this app is functionally built is messy - so there are things you’d have to rebuild. And truly my appointment setting and quote building flows are different and will likely iterate over time. But the goal is not to just receive feedback that’s “CAN YOU MAKE THE APP MORE LIKE ______?” and more like “other tools can’t do this and this is why it matters.”
KeyRoute.app
(This also handles mover dispatch flows and piano storage with automated stripe customer billing)
u/KeyRoute — 13 days ago
▲ 7 r/pianotech
Heyy all, I came across an old Gebr. Zimmermann from late 1800s being given away for free. I had a piano tech look at it, and the biggest issues were some cracks in the soundboard and a split bridge cap. I've attached a photo of the worst crack in the bridge.
What I'm wondering is if this crack and other smaller cracks make this piano not worth the investment (of fixing other minor issues) / risk, or whether it's still a good find? The technician said she would go for something in a better state herself, but I'd love to hear some more opinions.
u/Federal-Demand-1073 — 13 days ago
▲ 3 r/pianotech
Cloudy finish on a 2004 Mason & Hamlin
I’m curious if anyone else has seen this super cloudy finish issue before. It’s worst on the music desk (top and bottom), but also present to some degree on the body, lid, and even the inward facing side of the lid prop.
It sanded white, got briefly tacky when exposed to acetate, and seemed to improve juuust slightly when buffed with swirl remover in a discreet spot under the music desk.
u/peacefullikeafox — 7 days ago
▲ 9 r/pianotech
Working on a D.H. Baldwin C172 5'8', where one of the shanks broke. I'm noticing the part does not correspond to a typical Baldwin bore.
Can anyone confirm my hypothesis and pull me towards the right part? My feeling is that it's a renner.
Specs :
Center pin to flange hole : 23mm
Center pin to knuckle : 17mm
Width is approx 12mm
____
First picture : Part retrieved from DH Baldwin C172.
Second Picture : Renner type
Third Picture : Baldwin Old Bore
u/Leather_Pumpkin9552 — 9 days ago
▲ 1 r/pianotech
first time playing a Kawai. I heard they were mellow but I was surprised when I tried this. sitting right in front of it playing and i feel like I can barely hear the notes!
interestingly, it doesn’t sound awful on video or even when Im listening to someone else play.
couldn’t find a crack anywhere on bridges or soundboard. figured the hammers were soft, but theyre actually quite hard.
theres a greenish stain in same spot across the entire piano on each hammer and im wondering if it’s an indication someone tried to harden the hammers? it’s on top and bottom of hammers, close to the shank, not on the tip or shoulder of hammers.
why isn’t it playing super bright with how hard these hammers feel?
u/Fragrant_Hearing_951 — 13 days ago