if your piano needs tuning or repairs, we would be glad to take care of you. Fees for tuning start at $85.00. We serve the following areas: Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, lower York County, and Williamsburg up to the colonial area. We also service the Hayes, Gloucester Point, and Guinea areas on a limited basis. If you are an existing customer in an unmentioned area, we will still see you, don't worry!
We service churches, schools, recording studios, concert halls, and private residences.
We also perform installation and maintenance on Dampp-Chaser / Piano Life Saver humidity control systems. If you're not familiar with them, the Dampp-Chaser product works to stabilize humidity in your piano, which is the #1 contributor to tuning instability. Call us for more information.
For your convenience, we have provided a listing of our usual repair rates for common piano repairs.
USED PIANO Questions and Answers
Q: I found a piano on the curb. Should I bring it home and try to play it?
A: Most likely, if the piano was worth keeping, the previous owner would not have put it on the curb. Pianos like this usually suffer from incredible mechanical and structural problems, and are best avoided. The same thing can be said for any piano that has spent any time stored in a garage or barn. Humidity, cold, heat, mice, bugs, etc. will ruin a piano quickly. See photos below for what a free piano is like!
Q: My child is going to start taking lessons. We want something cheap because we don't know whether she will stick with it. What's the least we can get by with?
A: If your beginning child has to suffer through a mechanically inferior piano that is below pitch, won't hold a tune, and is hard to play, you are doomed to failure from the start. You will be better off to spend $200 on a decent quality portable keyboard to get started. Models change all the time, and they get better for less money. Call and discuss the current crop with us. No matter what any piano teacher tells you, a decent touch-sensitive portable keyboard with a sustain pedal function will last you at least the first two years of piano lessons. Within the first year, you will be able to judge your commitment and your child's commitment to piano, and then you can make an investment if need be. If a prospective teacher tells you that you MUST have an acoustic piano to start lessons, I would suggest finding another teacher.
Q: I have an antique piano. How much is it worth?
A: Most people are unaware that pianos are not considered antiques until 150 years old. That being said, what most people think of as an antique are the big old upright pianos (sometimes called cabinet grands) from the 1880s through the 1930s. Unless you have a Steinway, Knabe, or Mason and Hamlin from this era, any other brand of this type of piano is worthless. There are so many of them (literally millions and millions of them), and they are almost always in poor mechanical condition due to age and neglect. These are best avoided.
Q: What is the ideal used piano?
A: The ideal acoustic piano would be a Yamaha or Kawai, about 10-15 years old. Good luck finding one! A typical home console piano will run about $2500, and a grand will go for maybe 10% less than a new one. The benefit is that they are well broken in, holding tune well, and any initial mechanical issues should have been rectified by the first owner and the factory warranty.
Q: Are there pianos that I should avoid?
A: Yes, there are great many brands that, if you can avoid them, it will save you dollars and grief. Call me to discuss these. As far as body styles, the old big uprights are so old, they are beyond their usefulness, and are hard to tune and repair. Plus, they are SO massive and heavy. Old square grands, while they are beautiful as furniture, are not practical as musical instruments, have prehistoric actions, and are very hard mechanically to tune and repair, if they can be done at all. Also in that same vein, are the old player pianos. Very complicated mechanicals, and no parts available anymore. If they break, you are done. Most piano technicians will not service square grands or players at all.
Q: My budget is about $500. What can I get for that?
A: There are a lot of worn out spinets, 50 years old, in that range (see photos below for not-real-unusual examples of what you would get). Nothing you want. If you can go to about $600, you can get a very decent digital piano, 88 keys, nice looking wooden stand, etc., that will last you longer and give you a lot more enjoyment than the spinet will, with no tuning or maintenance required, and a lot easier to move.
Photos of a Typical Spinet Piano in Disrepair
The following photos are of a 45 year old Kimball spinet piano, and show typical signs of wear, poor maintenance, and environmental damage. The symptoms shown are not unusual, especially here on the coast.
Here are the high treble tuning pins; note the rust on the pins, but none visible on the strings. The string is likely rusted inside the pin. Note also that the stagger pins are rusted (the small slanted pins seen just above the hammer row). String breakage while attempting to tune is likely, due to the rust.
Here is the bass section of the same piano; note the rusted tuning pins on this end also. You can also see grooves cut into the striking surface of the hammers, by years of playing; actually these don't look too bad. More rust -- note the rust on the sticker lift tabs (at the end of the keys) and the sticker wire s themselves, which go down into the guts of the action. Rust here would make regulation impossible.
Here is the high treble again, from a little different angle; note the deep grooves cut into the striking surface of the hammers.
Common Piano Repairs and Charges
Please call for a FREE phone consultation; we will be happy to discuss your situation over the phone before coming out for a visit. If you can email photos, too, that would be ideal. Send them to doug@dnmusic.net.
Piano Evaluation/Visit Fee -- We will inspect your piano and determine whether it is worth your time and expense to tune it or repair it; this fee is due whether any work is performed or not -- $25.00
Piano Tuning -- $85.00 (if the piano has been tuned within the last two years; add $40 if more than two years ago)
All tasks below will require a visit fee, unless we are already coming for a tuning.
Free Stuck Keys -- $5 each
Repair fallboard mechanical problem -- $10
Replace pull knobs on vertical fallboard -- $5 each
Remove foreign objects from action -- $50 for verticals, $75 for grands
Action regulation -- $150 for a vertical piano (non-spinet), and $200-500 for a grand
Hammer filing/voicing -- $150 for a vertical piano (non-spinet), and $200-500 for a grand
Key Top replacement -- $25 for the first, $5 each additional (plastic only; ivory by estimate)
Bridle Strap replacement -- $25 for the first, $5 each additional
Vagias elbow replacement -- $25 for the first, $5 each additional (plastic only), wood by estimate
Hammer spring replacement -- $25 for the first, $5 each additional
Jack spring replacement -- $25 for the first, $5 each additional
Damper spring replacement -- $50 for the first, $20 each additional
Hammer head replacement -- $50 for the first, $20 each additional
Hammer shank repair -- $50 for the first, $20 each additional
Flange repair/replacement -- $50 for the first, $20 each additional
Damper pad replacement -- $50 for the first, $20 each additional
Pedal/trap adjustment -- $5.00 plus trip charge
Replace treble string -- $20.00 per run of wire
Replace bass string -- $40.00 each, universal only, custom bass strings by estimate only
Replace broken or missing caster wheel (verticals only) -- $75 per pair (usually requires two wheels to make it sit evenly)
Labor charges of $85.00 for the first hour and $55 for each additional hour will apply to any work performed other than specified above.