Piano tuning

[Jazz Kat]

My up right Baldwin piano sounds horrible. It is old, in bad shape, and the move down the stairs probaly didn't help. I noticed it is definately out of tune. I'm thinking of getting it tuned. But what does this entail? The sound is all low and muffly. Will tuning it return it to the sound it should sound like? Or is that restoration?

[JSngry]

Depends. If the soundboard's warped or otherwise screwed, tuning is not going to help. Plus, the felts on your hammers might need replacing. And so on.

[7/4]

Tuning would be the first step. If it doesn't sound good, service would be the next step.

[Jim Alfredson]

Depending on the age and how well it has been maintained, there could be any number of things that need fixed or replaced. Your hammers could be worn. The dampers could be worn. Strings could be rusted. Etc. Hire a good piano tuner/technician and he/she should point you in the right direction.

[Jazz Kat]

A couple of the lower end hammers need to be replaced.

[Jim Alfredson]

That's not a hard or expensive job. Any competent tuner should be able to replace those on site and/or fix the ones that are there if the hammers themselves are not in bad shape. Usually just the stem is broke and that can be fixed.

My dad has been a piano tuner/tech for close to 30 years, so I'm all too familair with this stuff.

[Jazz Kat]

That's not a hard or expensive job. Any competent tuner should be able to replace those on site and/or fix the ones that are there if the hammers themselves are not in bad shape. Usually just the stem is broke and that can be fixed.

My dad has been a piano tuner/tech for close to 30 years, so I'm all too familair with this stuff.

I took the top off, and the stem is there, just the hammer that looks like its snapped off. The damper on the middle E key is not working also.

[Jim Alfredson]

Both should be easy fixes.