Author Archives: benfairlightedwards

The Half Blow and its correct adjustment are vital to tonal control and evenness of touch weight (also this latter is primarily determined by appropriate Weighing Out of the keys – on this, more anon). On sensible instruments (alas, not … Continue reading →

I could post pics of moth damage from nearly every piano I service – so ubiquitous is the problem now! (See other posts) On this Yamaha C7 from the 1970s, the monsters had progressed from their usual starting place, the … Continue reading →

The alignment of levers & hammer rollers is, like all adjustable parameters in the regulation sequence**, essential to optimum function – which is in itself a prerequisite for the piano’s voicing. See how bad most of these levers & hammers … Continue reading →

The Steinway Duplex scale, designed for its sympathetic resonance, can occasionally be too resonant – so that on this instrument (Steinway model O), I needed to weave in baize to the lowest of the (duplex) strings, because all the ‘C’ … Continue reading →

Another of the classic ‘best of’ models, this Bluthner O/D – often misguidedly dismissed as a second-class instrument, just because it uses the early style of damping in uprights: over-damping. In fact, when built as superbly as this, with long … Continue reading →

Quite simply, one of the best uprights I have ever worked on:

Servicing the main Steinway at Air Studios. Basically, a very nice instrument requiring little more than my standard 2-day job. Nice job!

Both the Damper Lift Body and Key LEADS on this 1840s Pleyel grand became oxidized (quite some time ago, I think!) – so that they were rubbing/blocking against each other. The nasty (masked) job of filing the leads flush was … Continue reading →

An odd string dullness confused me for a bit – until I looked at the proximal string, just where it passes under the Capo Tasto: The splinter of wood caught between 2 strings is just visible (blurred in this pic) … Continue reading →