My old piano is driving me nuts!

[dss62467]

I'm a fairly advanced student and play my piano a lot, but it's an old (1940s) family relic, doesn't stay in tune and I have a B flat that doesn't even play.   That really sort of ruins a couple of the that I love playing.   It's so bad during the summer because the keys stick from the humidity that I hardly play at all between June and September.  (I don't have air conditioning)

I'm a divorced mother that is paying off a lot of debt from the marriage, so I don't have the money to buy or even finance a new piano for another 3 years.   I suffer on my piano because I know once a week I can go to my teacher's house and play on his Baldwin grand.   

I am contemplating getting a digital piano to hold me over and have had the Yamaha Clavinova suggested to me.  I saw the price (about $2k - $3k) and was thinking that if I could shell out the cash for that, I'd be better served by saving that money and putting it towards a new piano in a few more years.

I don't want to give up the tone, action and dynamics of an acoustic piano, though I'm told I wouldn't lose that with a Clavinova.    I'm American and love my instant gratification - but I don't want to make a foolish purchase when I plan to be a player for the rest of my life.

[jimbo320]

That's one of the reasons I prefer owning DP's. I love playing acoustics but the cost and the up keep to me is a negative. To each his/her own I guess...

[starstruck5]

You are in some respects in a similar situation to me.  I have decided though to have the action of my old piano reconditioned - so you might want to consider that - I am fairly sure it will work out cheaper than buying a new digital! 

[keys60]

Not to worry. Although it may cost some hard earned to get playable, it might be worth it. Sticking keys in the humid months happens on new pianos too. Unless you can control the humidity, it happens. A tech can adjust your key bushing for you. Non playing keys on a 70 year old piano can be fixed fairly cheaply too. Could just be a jack flange came off at the glue joint. Really, when you think about it, is glue really meant to hold for 70 years?? An easy fix. Tech will just reglue it. Its easy to freak out when you don't know what the cause of your pianos ailments are, but to a piano tech, its just routine. Have it checked out and repaired and stop worrying.
Digital pianos are an option too, but I prefer the harmonics and action of an acoustic.

[collectivecolors]

I would just like to say that your advice to get a Clavinova is pretty good advice. I practice on a Clavinova CLP-123 an old model but it's got great sound for being a digital piano and being so old. They hold up really well too. This one doesn't even have a problem with being able play to ff or pp.

[pianoplayjl]

A Yamaha Clavinova is a good substitute for a piano and I'm sure the sound and touch will be similar.  You wouldn't lose the tone, and dynamics of a piano.

[floydgaddpianos]

You may well find a good used piano that will meet your needs.  You have to be a savvy shopper, because there is lots of trash out there, but I've been astonished at the low prices I find from time to time for pianos that have a lot to offer.  Within the last year I've picked up two different Yamaha P2's for $50 and $100.  Both of these pianos had rough cabinets, and were about 35 years old, but neither of them showed excessive wear in the inner components.  Both will play very well with only very modest reconditioning.  Both of them I found on Kijiji (which in my area is more popular than Craigslist.)

The key is to limit yourself to the most reliable, consistent brands, and monitor your classifieds for a while.  I would suggest, for instance, that if you look only for Yamahas and Kawais, you can expect to do rather well.  Decide on your budget in advance, and don't be embarrassed if its low.  Someone will have a piano that they just want to move.  Don't be put off by a piano that is badly out of tune, but if individual notes have widely diverging pitches, it is a danger sign.  It's a really good idea to pay your piano technician to check out the piano before you purchase it.  You might even have your technician, if the verdict is good on the piano, tune it where it sits and put off for a while the cost of an extra service call.  You might lose a bit of the quality of the tuning during the move, but again you might not.  The Yamahas and Kawais, in my experience, have moved well.

If you're in more of a hurry, place an ad yourself.  Be specific as to what brands you are looking for, and indicate what you are prepared to spend.  If you're prepared to spend up to $1000, say so.  If you're prepared to spend only $500, say so.  What you're after is a piano that the vendor is happy to dispose of at well under market value.  These pianos are around!  Maybe someone will see your ad, look at their Yamaha U1 that is sitting there unused, and say to themselves, "A big screen TV would look really good in that spot!" 

If you're in a rural area and the distance involved makes the cost of a professional move prohibitive, paying movers to move the piano out of the vendor's home into a vehicle you are providing is a viable option.  I can give more detailed advice on this to help you do it safely.

Floyd Gadd
Manitoba, Canada

[dss62467]

Wow -thanks.  You've all given me things to consider.   If I could restore the piano, that would make me happiest.  It was my father's when he was a kid, and then it was mine - so I'd like to keep it in the family.   I'll stop by one of the restorers in the area to get an idea.

And it's nice to know the Clavinova is a good choice if I go that route.

[john90]

I think you will be disappointed with a new Clarinova costing $2000. Any old weighted DP (including a Clarinova) will be as good. My $300 used Roland has been great. I also think stopping by a restorer is a bad idea for your finances. My guess is your piano is too new to seriously benefit from a restore. Maybe it just needs a reasonable tech to fix one key as keys60 suggests. If the humidity changes that much, it will need tuning often anyway.

Have a look inside, take the front off, there could be something blocking the action. Photograph the offending key mechanism in the action and post a pic if you are worried.

[starstruck5]

I don't think your piano necessarily needs a full rebuild!  Often the old action just needs some new springs and loop cords -and then regulating- not very costly - but making a lot of difference to the way the piano plays.

[willvenables]

I'm a fairly advanced student and play my piano a lot, but it's an old (1940s) family relic, doesn't stay in tune and I have a B flat that doesn't even play.   That really sort of ruins a couple of the that I love playing.   It's so bad during the summer because the keys stick from the humidity that I hardly play at all between June and September.  (I don't have air conditioning)

I'm a divorced mother that is paying off a lot of debt from the marriage, so I don't have the money to buy or even finance a new piano for another 3 years.   I suffer on my piano because I know once a week I can go to my teacher's house and play on his Baldwin grand.   

I am contemplating getting a digital piano to hold me over and have had the Yamaha Clavinova suggested to me.  I saw the price (about $2k - $3k) and was thinking that if I could shell out the cash for that, I'd be better served by saving that money and putting it towards a new piano in a few more years.

I don't want to give up the tone, action and dynamics of an acoustic piano, though I'm told I wouldn't lose that with a Clavinova.    I'm American and love my instant gratification - but I don't want to make a foolish purchase when I plan to be a player for the rest of my life.

Hi

Tuning stability can be compromised usually by the climate. Often, a room has a typical humidity level and at times it will dip or peak. If you find that most of the time it is quite stable, then find out (by using a hygrometer) what the change is. Invest in a de-humidifier and set it to kick in when the humidity exceeds the average for the room. Also, get some leafy plants in the room too as they can help regulate humidity. You should be able to get a dehumidifier for around $142 . If it's the other way round i.e. it rarely gets humid, but does get drier than average, then you could just keep the plants heavily watered, and place bowls of water around the room. If that's not effective enough, buy a humidifier. On older pianos that were not built for modern environments (central heating) it can be acceptable to put a bowl of water with a sponge inside too, in the bottom of the piano away from the soundboard, bridge and strings - but I do recommend controlling the room and steering away from being direct with the piano.

I say this, because you talk about the keys becoming sluggish in humid months - so if there's enough of an increase in humidity to cause your keybushings to swell (the reason why they go sluggish/sticky) then there's enough to make your soundboard to raise and so increase string tension resulting in the pitch going sharp particularly in the tenor.

Going from acoustic to digital - you will appreciate consistency of the digital, but you will find it has no soul... Save up for a better acoustic. Don't waste that money on a digital because I am sure you will become unhappy with it and its huge deprecation will mean it delays you from getting an acoustic piano you are happy with.

Get a tuner technician to check your action and keyboard regulation. It may well be that the parts are in OK condition, but it all just needs adjusting so it does what it should do, by the right amount and at the right time.

Even a perfect brand new piano is frustrating to play on when it gets too humid!

[silverwoodpianos]

   It's so bad during the summer because the keys stick from the humidity that I hardly play at all between June and September.  (I don't have air conditioning)

This may not be in the key set at all.

If this is a 70 yr old instrument from the 1940’s that would put this one in the early small upright category.  The compressed action geometry in these actions did not allow much in the way of friction to enter the equation…..The sticky key symptom could well be in the action not the keyboard. The flanges are possibly dirty, especially the whippen flanges and in summer the added water swelling into the bushings is causing too much friction.

If a whippen sticks high the jack will not reset and gives the appearance at times of a sticky key…..

[willvenables]

This may not be in the key set at all.

If this is a 70 yr old instrument from the 1940’s that would put this one in the early small upright category.  The compressed action geometry in these actions did not allow much in the way of friction to enter the equation…..The sticky key symptom could well be in the action not the keyboard. The flanges are possibly dirty, especially the whippen flanges and in summer the added water swelling into the bushings is causing too much friction.

If a whippen sticks high the jack will not reset and gives the appearance at times of a sticky key…..

Very true - so, on a budget, it may be worth having a tech give the action a good clean/vacuum and lube the jack centre-pins and re-graphite and burnish the tops of the jacks.

I doubt that the key bushings will be tight generally - as the piano is far from new, so they should be worn...

To the original poster "dss62467" grab the front of the sticking key and wobble from side to side - how much lateral movement is in the key?

It could be the bat pins (front rail) that are dirty or possibly rusting / tarnishing - so they should get a good polish up.

If you can get all this done during the dry months and the piano is playing nicely, put measures in place to control the humidity when it does rise - that way there's little chance of the problems recurring.

Best wishes

Will

[willvenables]

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