We are able to offer all levels of repairs, and restoration of pianos. Many small piano repairs and adjustments are done as part of a routine piano tuning. Any larger repairs or piano restorations can be quoted for free of charge if done when we are visiting tuning the piano.
Often having a traditional piano restored, or buying a reconditioned piano can be a much better option than buying a new instrument. People often recognise that antique furniture was "properly built" and "more solid" than modern day furniture, but don't recognise that the same is the case with pianos. As with many older pieces of furniture, older pianos were hand built with real care by indiviual craftsmen, using quality materials including quality woods, felts, leather, action parts, strings and many other parts.
Many traditional pianos have been going for up to 100 years with minimal work, so can often sound and feel a bit "tired". If a quality traditional piano is well restored it could well go on for another 100 years, and often provide a touch and tone that would be far superior to that of a budget new piano. As well as being a quality musical instrument, a traditional piano is lovely piece of furniture, and can be a real joy as it is passed on through generations of the family.
Many cheaper new pianos are produced on production lines using inferior quality materials, and quite often poorly constructed. Many of these pianos are even made of chipboard or MDF! Plastic action parts are often used which can become brittle and then split and crack. Overall these pianos will have a much shorter life expectancy, poor tone, probably void of character and will not hold their value the way a quality piano would.
Often taking a piano away to restore it can add costs to the work. We now offer a service where we spend a day working on a piano for a flat rate of £250. This can include tuning, and sometimes pitch raising the piano and stabilising the tuning to concert pitch, it also gives the opportunity to clean up the piano internally and externally, and being able to go through the instrument solving a number of problems that may be too involved to repair as part of a tuning.