GRAND TOTALS for 1st Time Service
= Pitch Raise and Fine Tuning totals
$80-135
To help you budget costs, on a first time service call
this will be the maximum you
would have to pay...including: Pitch Raise, Fine Tuning, Easy Repairs, Cleaning...
Bringing a piano's mean tuning back up to the standard A440. See below for more details.
Fine Tuning:
2 - 3 hrs
$80-$100
If your piano was tuned within the year, it might only need a fine tuning.
Subsequent Services
Subsequent Service:
1 - 2 hrs
$50.00 - $100.00
Fine Tuning, plus minor
repairs and adjustments (if done at least annually).
Thorough Cleaning:
1 - 2 hrs
$100.00
Removing and vacuuming beneath the keys, really shining up each key, brightening strings with steel wool, dusting beneath the hard-to-reach grand strings, vacuuming throughout entire piano, nice cabinet polish to finish up.
Evaluation:
1/2 - 1 hr
$50.00
Purchasing a new or used piano and want its condition assessed? I will evaluate it for you before you purchase it and give you a detailed review of the piano's over-all condition, focused condition of the 1000s of working parts, inherent sound quality, keyboard touch and sensitivity, and overall musicality to suit your needs and budget.
Pitch Raise: 1/2 hr - 1.5 hrs
$35
Bringing a piano's mean tuning back up to the standard A440. This is what most pianos should be tuned to. A lot of tuners just tune the piano to itself, leaving it dull rather than the brilliance that the piano can offer. Might take a piano a little time to settle in to the new overall tuning, requiring a follow-up visit for touch ups.
Adjusting the tone quality, dynamic range, evenness from note to note, and balance from section to
section.
All
Day Service:
8 hrs
$450.00
Tune,
Regulate, Voice, Repair
TUNING
REQUIREMENTS
1) You should
allow three to four hours 2) It
should be at a time
when it is relatively quiet 3) Payment
should be made
at the time of service
Pitch Raise
If
your piano has not been tuned for a long time (a year or more), it
could
be a quarter step (or more) out of tune. As a result,
bringing
the piano up to pitch could add over two tons of pressure to
the
frame and plate. This might require tuning the piano two or
more
times to equalize the tension along the entire harp of the
piano. If the piano is way out of tune and this is not done, as one section of the piano is tuned, the warping
effect causes the other sections to go out of tune -- the piano fights itself.
If there are
major problems
with your piano, such as cracked bridges, tuning pins that are
extremely
loose, rusted or corroded strings, it might not be possible to raise
the
pitch to the correct tension (without some major repair or rebuilding
work). There also might be the possibility of breaking strings.
If you would
like to know
in advance if your piano needs a pitch raise, you can call and play
several
of your notes over the phone, I will be glad to measure the difference
from the standard (A=440HZ). If the note is 15% or more off, it
will
need a pitch raise.
Scheduling
regular tunings
two to four times a year should help in alleviating most major pitch
problems.
I charge $35 for a pitch raise (pre-tension adjustment). If a piano is severely out of
tune (75% of the way toward the next 1/2 step down), you might want to consider a gradual
increase
over a few months to a year depending on the stability of the piano's strings. This would allow the strings to
adjust
to the tension increase of tuning it probably 3-4 times, and help in avoiding the cost of replacing
broken
strings, though I have done it in a long day. Though the upper wire is not hugely expensive, each wrapped low string is a special order from Mapes - $27 each.
