Piano Restoration Work Video Transcript

[Paul & James are stood at an open piano]

James: “So now we just want to show you what we do to our pianos. We are extremely particular on the quality of our imported Yamaha pianos. This is a new one that has just arrived from Japan and we are now starting the process of returning it back to as good as the day it left the factory. Paul is going to start by re-facing the hammers first of all, which is a process of removing all the cuts from the noses of the heads which enhances the tone and so forth. Paul if you just want to explain what you’re doing there.”

[Paul starts restoration process]

Paul: “This piano is in a raw state as it has just come off the container. It’s had absolutely nothing done to it. As you can see looking at it, it’s in very good condition already, so we’re just going to try and bring it back to as new a condition as possible.”

James: “It might be important to know that a lot of piano importers do not do this amount of work to their pianos; they just sell them as they come off the container. The process facing us doesn’t look too skilled but it is. You can’t keep just going otherwise you end up taking the felt down to the wood. This particular one isn’t that badly cut is it Paul?”

Paul: “No, this has had very light use, like a good 90% of our pianos I would say. The important thing is that as you are taking it down you are always listening to the tone improving so that you can get it to the point where you want to stop.”

[Paul tests piano]

James: “If you apply too much pressure you can end up breaking the hammer shanks which isn’t a very good idea. So there is a quite skilled technique to doing this.” Paul: “Obviously once the whole set’s done and the action comes out, it then goes into the workshop where it’s all cleaned up, all the screws are tightened up, all the loops are changed (which we will come to later) and all the keys are taken out, buffed, cleaned and regulated back in. Basically hours of work.”