Our Services
"Appletons - five generations of excellence"
Tuning | Servicing | Repairs | Moving | Re-polishing
Piano tuning
Peter Appleton's 30 plus years of personal experience is backed by four generations of family in the trade. To this he has added tuition by Steinway and tuning work in homes, schools and concert halls on both sides of the world.
So Appleton Piano Workshop can confidently state that we offer a "full" tuning, voicing and action regulation service.
Your piano should be tuned at least once a year to keep it in good condition. Peter covers the Wellington, Manawatu and Wairarapa regions. Contact us for details.
Regulation and voicing are part of a piano's regular servicing package and need to be done every five to 10 years. Contact us to find out more.
Piano Servicing
A well-maintained piano will give many years of playing performance. Just like a neglected car, a neglected piano will let you down. Servicing is part of an Appleton Piano Workshop pre-sale check, and should be carried out every five to 10 years from then on.
Servicing means cleaning the action, re-facing the hammers, regulating the action and voicing.
Regulation involves tiny adjustments on each note of the piano to optimise its tone, feel and responsivity. A piano action consists of numerous levers which over time require adjustment. For a learner, a well-regulated piano is a must so they can develop good playing technique.
Voicing is all about good, consistent, tone across the piano and becomes necessary over time as the hammer felts becomes worn and compressed. Some voicing can be done as part of a tuning, but a thorough voicing of your piano is recommended every two to five years depending on frequency of use.
Pitch-raising
If your piano hasn't been tuned for a number of years, Peter may tell you that it needs to be pitch-raised. A neglected piano will drop in pitch, perhaps as much as a semi-tone or more. Pitch-raising a piano this much adds about two tons of pressure on the strings, frame and soundboard. The piano will not hold its tune for long afterwards as it is not used to being under such pressure and the strings will stretch and settle out. Another tuning will be required within a matter of weeks to stabilise the tension on the strings. Sometimes an older piano just wn't take the strain and it has to be tuned "flatter" than concert pitch (a440), which is not acceptable if you want to accompany other musicians or singers.
Repairs
A repair could be a replacement string, a complete re-build, or anything in between. If your piano isn't working properly Peter can advise you and probably fix it there and then as part of the tuning visit. If not, and a workshop repair is required, the action can be removed so there's no need to move the entire piano.
Moving
Piano moving is a difficult and potentially dangerous procedure and is best left to experts. Pianos are heavy - starting at about 150kg for a small modern upright. The weight is unevenly distributed and there are few handholds. Upright pianos are back heavy and can easily flip. The castors are hard metal and can do a lot of damage. They will dent and scratch wooden floors, and bind on carpet.
Think carefully before trying to move a piano yourself - the cost could be far greater than your saving on the moving fee. Contact us and we'll count the cost for you.
Once safely relocated your piano will need to be tuned. The move itself will not alter the tuning, but afterwards it will go through some "acclimatisation" changes. These changes are caused by variations in the piano's surroundings - temperature and humidity for example, and will a week or so. We recommend treating the move and tune as two separate jobs to allow time for these changes to occur.