How to shop for a used piano

Buying a used piano can be a wonderful way to get a higher-quality instrument at a more affordable price. Many well-built pianos last for decades when properly maintained, making them a smart investment for students and families.

When inspecting a piano, bring along a few simple tools — a flashlight, a soft brush, a small screwdriver, and a tuning app or tuner.

These will help you check:

• the strings and tuning pins

• the bridges and pinblock

• overall tuning stability

If you can, play every note and pedal. Listen for buzzing, sluggish keys, or uneven tone. If you’re not comfortable playing, bring a friend or ask a technician to join you. Don’t hesitate to look inside. Ask the seller to open the lid and remove any decorations so you can inspect the internal parts.

Seeing the action, soundboard, and strings is essential before buying.

Key things to remember:

• Test the tuning and pitch stability

• Check the condition of the pinblock, soundboard, and bridges

• Examine the strings and pedals for damage

Northshore Tuning is happy to assist you in evaluating a used piano or performing a professional inspection before your purchase.

What is piano regulation, tuning, and voicing?

The word "tuning" normally refers to all of the technical maintenance tasks required for a piano. These jobs are divided into the following three broad classifications.

Regulation

Regulation involves making minute adjustments to the action, keyboard, damper system, and pedals. These are called the piano’s mechanism. The mechanism is regulated by repositioning, aligning, or shimming parts, by adjusting their regulating screws or buttons, and/or by alternating the thickness of the various felts and leathers of the piano.

Tuning

Tuning is the correction of the pitch of each note by gently re-tightening metal pins called tuning pins around which the strings are wound, using a tool called a tuning hammer.

Voicing

Voicing involves balancing the volume, tone, and overall sound of the piano by adjusting the hardness of the hammer felts by pricking them with needles using a tool called a picker.

How often should I get my piano tuned?

Pianos Fall Out of Tune over Time

Piano strings are strung under tremendous tension, averaging 90 kilograms each. Therefore, even if your piano is not regularly played played, as time passes its strings will gradually stretch and your piano will eventually fall out of tune. As such, your piano needs regular tuning at least once a year to keep it up to pitch and playing the correct notes.

New Pianos

It’s a common misconception that a newer piano would hold its tune longer than an old one. It is actually quite the opposite. Piano strings stretch quite a great deal during its first year after purchase. The piano’s new strings are very stiff and are inclined to contract. Therefore, new pianos often require tuning about once every three months, if not more.

After Year One

After the first year, the frequency at which you need your piano tuned will depend on a few factors. Generally speaking, if you play your piano regularly, you will probably need to tune it about twice a year. However, it could be less frequent than that if you play more sporadically. Tuning frequency also depends on the climate of your home. If humidity is more predictable (well climate controlled home), your piano may need fewer tunings. In general though, the more you play the piano, and / or the more unpredictable the humidity, the faster it will fall out of tune.