Pianos

Several months ago I noticed that one of the keys on my piano was sagging and not playing properly. With appropriate curiosity and enthusiasm, I took the piano apart far enough to establish that this was caused by the deterioration of a pad in the middle of the key. Then I contacted a piano guy in the area and asked him about replacing the felt pads. The cost of the pads wasn't too bad, but having them replaced was another matter! The unofficial estimate was more than I paid when I purchased the piano! Fixing the piano moved to the back burner to wait until the end of my busy summer.

My new enthusiasm for piano practice has moved fixing the piano to the front burner, so I began investigating more economical solutions to my problem.

Over the weekend I discussed the state of my piano with a friend who is also a piano guy. We established the fact that the piano is worth fixing up a bit, but not as much as the other piano guy was suggesting. He carefully described the process for replacing the felt pads and I felt that it was within my skill level.

Based on additional information needed, I again took apart part of the piano last night to determine how many of those felt pads needed to be replaced. The possibility was presented that at some point in time moths had inflicted the damage that caused them to fall apart. Sure enough, moth holes are clearly visible on many of the felt pads across the middle...although the front ones (a different type of felt) seem to be untouched.

So with a better understanding of the scope of the project, I now plan to replace all those little felt pads in the middle on my own. However, I will have a piano tuner come in when I am done to take care-of that problem. Then I should be in good shape for lots of piano practicing! (Or at least my piano will be.)