Rebuilding Tips

Rebuilding or Buying a Rebuilt Piano

The process of rebuilding your piano or purchasing a rebuilt Piano can be very confusing. In conversations with five different individuals you are most likely to receive five very different opinions of which are usually biased in favor of the process or product they desire to sell. Here we attempt to provide you with information in the tools necessary to make and educated decision regarding rebuilt pianos.

Sales people, technicians, pianist and consumers frequently use different terminology for various aspects of the piano technical field. It is advisable for you to have the salesperson or technician clarify their definition of terms such as; spit & polished, repaired, restored and rebuilt. Too often, pianos are represented to be "Completely Rebuilt" when in fact they may have only received a "Spit & Polish." The following are definitions from a technicians perspective that are important to understand before proceeding any further in your pursuit of a fine rebuilt piano. Become educated in these different terms so as to know you are getting what you are paying for. After reading this section, be sure to see our Rebuilding Itemization Checklist to assist you in having contracting or purchasing a properly rebuilt piano.

"Spit & Polished - A crude term to describe a simple clean-up of the appearance of the piano. It involves one or a combination of: renewing the finish (finish touch-up & detail), polishing brass, installing new key tops, replacing fallboard felt, cleaning strings, damper heads, tuning pins and taping off the strings and spray painting the plate and tuning. This procedure primarily focuses on the aesthetics of the cabinet and appearance of the piano and very little if any attention is given to the technical workings of the piano. These procedures are great and improve the appearance of the piano, but does not assure that the piano is a playable instrument or will even hold a tune for that matter. This produces a piano that looks wonderful and can even appear to be rebuilt and often is marketed by some as a rebuilt piano. You should not pay the price of a "Rebuilt" piano for a "Spit & Polish" piano nor should you expect a "Rebuilt" piano for the price of a "Spit & Polish" piano, you do get what you pay for.

"Repaired" - This is the least expensive and time consuming of all major piano technical work. It can include "Spit & Polish" and entails the repair or replacement of broken components and action parts, shaving or shaping hammers, regulation, partial string and/or tuning pin replacement, tuning and voicing. Simply put, it involves doing the repairs necessary for the piano to play and sound nicely. This type of piano is often an inexpensive way to get more life from the instrument without the expense of "Restoring" or "Rebuilding." It serves many budgets well, however, one should be aware that it does not ensure that repaired or original components will not fail and one can usually expect reoccurring maintenance issues. Again, you should not pay the price of a "Rebuilt" piano for a "Repaired" piano, nor should you expect a "Rebuilt" piano for the price of a "Repaired", you do get what you pay for.

"Restored" - This process is probably most confused with "Rebuilding." Quite simply it is a more extensive step of the previous "Repaired" process. It involves not repairing, but replacing all worn and/or broken operating components, restringing and repining with oversize tuning pins, repairing sound board and bridges, gilding the plate and refinishing or detailing finish & hardware. This process replaces many but not all components of the piano and maintains many of the components that are in good working condition. Often pin blocks are not replaced but oversized tuning pins are installed into the pin block in order to provide the necessary torque on the pins. The result of this process is a fairly reliable instrument with good tone and an extended life span. It is also less costly than the "Rebuild" process. However, once again you should not pay the price of a "Rebuilt" piano for a "Restored" piano, nor should you expect a "Rebuilt" piano for the price of a "Restored" piano, you do get what you pay for.

"Rebuilt" - This is the most complete process of all of the above. It involves the complete tear down of the piano to it's infrastructural foundation and actually rebuilding the piano, cleaning and/or refinishing yet maintaining only the non-wearing infrastructural components, (i.e. cabinet & rim, plate, action frame and rails, key sticks and hardware) and replacing ALL wearing components (i.e. pin block, whippens, shanks, flanges, hammers, damper felt, back action, all bushings & punchings, all action cloth and felts) with all new components original to manufacturers specs., rebuilding or replacing sound board, refinishing cabinet & hardware, repining & restringing, complete regulating, tuning voicing. Remaining true to original manufacturing as technically possible. This procedure when accomplished by a skilled technician/rebuilder returns the piano to the original condition as when it was finished the day it was originally manufactured in the factory. The life span of the piano has now been reset for another 50 - 70 years. This is a time consuming and expensive procedure, however, only pianos taken through this comprehensive procedure can legitimately be considered "Rebuilt". Remember - you should not pay the price of a "Rebuilt" piano for any other piano, nor should you expect a "Rebuilt" piano for any price less than a "Rebuilt" piano, you do get what you pay for.

Check out our Rebuilding Photo Gallery for examples of the above references as well as a step by step photo album of a complete rebuild project as it progresses

piano rebuilding itemization

piano rebuilding photo gallery