Problems with piano, should I buy a new one?

[Waldo]

Hello

I'm new, I'm starting to take piano lessons in september, but i already have a piano since a  very long time.
I own a J. Schiller (berlin)  the only thing i know about it is that it's built between 1911 en 1920.

It used to be used to be the piano of the convent it was used by nuns, they gave it to the doctor which is a friend of ours, and he gave it to us.

I don't know if it's a good one, to me it sounds good, but still it has some problems, first of all it's really out of tune, so it needs to be tuned i suppose.

But the worst problem is it has "sticky keys" i don't know if this is the term, but the thing is, the keys don't go up fast enough, they stick to the key next to it...Can this be fixed??? and who should i contact to fix it? can my local music shop do that? can my piano tuner do that?

Well anyway...should i even bother fixing it? considering the brand and age and history??? or should i just buy a new one?

Thanks in advance

Greetz
Bart

[jeremyjchilds]

Your tuner probably can.

Do me a favor, go and check if the stickieness is found in the keys or in the action.

Push the keys and then pull them back up really quickly. if the friction is there, then check if the wood has warped and is rubbing against the adjacent key. Also ckeck for sounds, could there be something sticky under the key? If is is not either of these, then likely your key bushings have swollen, and that is a moderate piano repair.

iF it is in the action, then check for a few things.
does the hammer come up, and then slowly creep back down (Maybe center pins)
Does the hammer come up and then move back down and then stop before it's resting position? (could be missing some felt)
Does the hammer rub against the adjacent hammer? (could need to be shaved or have the shank bent)
Are there clicking noises in the action (something could have come unglued or broken)

THe most probably causes (in my opinion) are warped keys or center pins, but I have seen everything.

Let me know what you find and I will let you know roughly in canadian dollars what I or another tech would usually charge for that repair, so you can budget for this.

[jeremyjchilds]

I should also mention that in an upright specifically, the tapes could be broken, look for broken tapes near the bottom of the action once the front cover of the piano is removed.
For some reason, i just assumed it was a grand

[Waldo]

hello

first of all thank you for all the information and sorry for my late reply, i haven't been home for a while...i checked the tings you said...i'll try to post some photos of the problem but unfortunately i'm away for the weekend so it will be after the weekend...that will probably make things easier


the tapes are allright, and there's no friction i think...it's mainly on key number 44 and 45 if i press 44 and 45 after eachother...45 doesn't come back before i release 44

and also i have to play pretty hard on most keys, if i touch it softly, the hammer doesn't touch the snares, so if i play fast with a light touch, i don't hear anything and the hammer comes back slower than it should

i'm sorry that i don't have more information, i'm very new to all of this

and again thanks for all your help

Kind regards
Bart

[jeremyjchilds]

I need to know where the friciton is...Take off the front cover of the piano, and lift the specific action components from where the key touches them from the bottom (As if your finger was the key instead of the wood) then check if the hammers still move slowly.

If the hammers move slowly, then it is really likely that the center pins are to blame (Though not always) (repinning is a moderate expense)

If the action works fine when using your finger, then we can be sure that the problem lies in the keys...go ckeck, and keep in touch when you find out!

Hope it's cheap to fix. good luck, but from what I have heard so far, my guess would be the pins.